Big Storms Take Center Stage Around the World

We have all heard the term global economy. Everything is connected like dominoes around the earth not only with economies but when it comes to the weather. Big storms are currently taking center stage. The first storm you see above is a cyclone in the Arabian Sea. It was the first category 5 cyclone ever in the Arabian Sea. Cyclone Gonu could actually cause oil disruptions for the next couple of weeks in Oman and Iran. The good news is that it should weaken to a tropical storm before making landfall. It is currently wrapping in a lot of dry desert air and this is the reason strong cyclones are rare in this part of the world. This is a freak storm. What has taken place with Gonu would be the equivalent of a hurricane striking California after passing over the very cool, stable Pacific current. This is why strong cyclones are rare in this part of the world. Usually the dry desert air zaps these storms of their energy before they can really pick up steam. Gonu may still produce about 2 years worth of rainfall in Oman with up to 8 inches possible. The desert averages an anemic 4 inches of rain per year. Gonu is called a cyclone because of where it is located. If this same storm was in the Atlantic it would be called a hurricane. If Gonu was west of the International Date Line it would be called a typhoon. There is no difference between a cyclone, hurricane, and typhoon.

It is all about the storms in this blog. The second storm system we are looking at will produce up to a foot of snow in the Rocky Mountains in Montana and just a couple hundred miles to the east it will be a prolific severe weather-maker and tornado producer. It is the storm of all seasons. This storm is very unusual because its pressure will drop to 28.90" over the Dakotas. This is the equivalent of a category one hurricane or cyclone! This just does not happen in June. A roaring jet stream out of the Pacific is to blame. These strong winds will mix up a tremendous amount of heat and humidity with unusually cool air in the atmosphere.

Notice the Lafayette area will be right on the cusp of severe weather on Thursday. I think our best chance of severe weather will be in the wee hours of Friday morning and once again by late Friday morning and early afternoon. The latest maps continue to scream damaging wind gusts near 70 mph and large hail as the main threats. Isolated tornadoes cannot be ruled out. It will all be based on timing. Since I have the front moving quickly through the area on Friday this could save us from a tornado outbreak, but I do not see us being spared the high wind gusts and large hail. Make sure to stay tuned on check the latest here on the blog.

This means to take advantage of the weather while you can. My family will be doing this by walking our newest family member BJ. He is named after the city Bowie, Maryland where I grew up. A few years back you may remember we had a Maltese named Bowie. He is a spitting image of Bowie, so we call him Bowie, Jr, or BJ for short. Here is a good look at what appears to be a cottony cloud or cumulus ball of fur. Megan is having a great time on her summer vacation with her new dog.

He is actually a Coton de Tulear and runs around the house like a small tornado. He is a cousin of the Maltese and Bichon. The spunky little guy is almost 6 months old, but he acts more like 6 years old. This is a good thing when you have a household full of kids and commotion. He has turned my household upside down, but in a good way. Cottons as they are called in English have ancestors from Madagascar and are as rare in this country as category 5 cyclones are in the Arabian Sea. There are only 5,000 of these dogs in the USA. His big trick so far is trying to stand on his hind legs. Cottons are known to try to act like they are humans. Maybe he can be on the Letterman show some day. This spoiled little guy is well on his way.

Speaking of spoiled. We will all be spoiled today with a fair weather cloud delight!We will warm up nicely in the 80s today with comfortable humidity and great pool weather. It will not last much longer so get out and enjoy. I will have more on the severe weather heading our way here on the blog tomorrow and of course tonight on the news. I better go get a treat for BJ!