WXnation Wire: Weather Blog, WX & Space News
                               SINCE FEB. 2003
WX -- Telegraph abbreviation for weather often used with Morse code
The Wire (wīr') -- Name once given to the telegraph

Blog Has Updated Look: You may have noticed a few minor changes throughout this blog. I hope you find them to be improvements…

• Mount St. Helens Update: Chance Of Mount St. Helens Eruption Grows | MSNBC: Earthquakes At Mount St. Helens Intensify | St. Helens Live Webcam: In our Seattle page | Tools: Activity Updates From USGS | More Tools In Our National Page - Earthquakes Section (In right column) | Very Latest Mount St. Helen Stories
• Latest On California Quakes: Another Substantial Quake — Magnitude-5.0, Not An Aftershock, Rocks Central California (Image slideshow inside) | Predicted Earthquake Arrives - 16 Years Late | Latest Quake Stories | Tools: Seismic Monitor Map | List | Central Calif. Cams | Earthquake Resources In Our National/International Page (In right column)
• Jeanne Stories: Barefoot Bay Man Rides Out Jeanne In Car Before Rescue
• Up To 8 Inches Of Rain Dumped In Philly Area
• Jeanne Latest In String Wild Weather Events In New Jersey Area
• How’s The weather? Weird | New Jeanne Stories
• Other News: NASA: Asteroid Comes Closest To Earth Since 12th Century
• Honeymooners Weather Ivan
• Weather Business News: Meteorlogix and Dow Jones Newswires Announce Agreement for Global Weather Coverage

Top 5 WXnation.com city weather and webcam pages visited Wednesday: 1. Orlando 2. West Palm Beach 3. Miami 4. Toronto 5. Boston … See the top 20 so far this month in the left column of our home page.

Fall Is Here, although some in the Midwest have just started enjoying their summer… Seeing Tom Waits‘ great performance of a song from his new album on the Late Show With David Letterman last night was my first official sign that it is that time of year again. Waits reminds me of autumn for some odd reason, and not just because of his song “November.”

Indeed, we have entered into the time of the year when the following are more likely to occur: Wind whistling through trees and leaves falling; Store space overtaken by Halloween displays; Gray skies and chilly nights; a new U2 recording; big, bright harvest moons; the World Series…

WeatherBug® Gets Traffic: WeatherBug 6.0 Provides Updates

From the folks at WeatherBug®: Streaming up-to-the-minute commuting updates are now available in WeatherBug 6.0 to 34 regions via 19 metropolitan areas. WeatherBug® made the announcement Monday. The cities are: Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Detroit, Houston/Galveston, Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Providence, Orlando, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, St. Louis, Tampa/St. Petersburg, and Washington D.C. More cities are being added over the course of the year.

Some news updates:

• Jeanne Updates: Another Florida Death Attributed To Jeanne Brings Florida Death Toll To 8
• Hurricane Gets Blame For Virginia Death
• Remnants of Jeanne Spawn Flood Warnings In D.C. Area | More From CapitalWeather.com Blog | WeatherBlog In Philly | D.C.-Area Radars/Webcams | Philly Radars/Webcams | All Cities By State
• Insured Damages From Hurricanes Approaches $22 Billion, Beating Hurricane Andrew’s Tally (Image slideshows inside story)
• Stores, cars damaged as remnants of Jeanne hit NJ
• Street gangs hijack food aid in Haiti
• Floridians worn out by hurricanes’ wrath
• Storms Strike Home Three Times
• Don’t TV Weather Reporters Know There’s No Place Like Home
• Other News: Pilot Completes 1st Stage of Space Flight
• Calif. Quake Data May Help Researchers | More Than 160 Aftershocks Follow 6.0 Magnitude Earthquake | Quake Shakes Up Online World | Earthquake resources in our National page (Right column)
• Weather Channel Junkie Comes Clean
• And in the world of webcams: UC Berkeley Webcam Adds New Dimension To Free Speech

Top 5 WXnation.com city weather and webcam pages visited Tuesday: 1. Washington, D.C. 2. New York City 3. West Palm Beach 4. Orlando 5. Philadelphia … See the top 20 so far this month in the left column of our home page.

6.0 Quake: Earthquake With Preliminary Magnitude Of 6.0 Hits Central California | Latest Stories
Tools: Seismic Monitor Map | List | Central California Webcams | Additional earthquake resources in our National/Int’l page (In right column)

Colorful Texas Sunrise:

Image (left): WXnation.com’s Fort Worth Webcam captures colorful Texas sunrise, Sept. 27, 2004.

It amazes me sometimes that a $60 Logitech webcam can produce a picture like this one, taken Monday morning from the WXnation headquarters in far north Fort Worth, Texas. The image links to a large version, and the live auto-updating image is here…

Some Jeanne, Oil, Quake and Astronomy News:

• Jeanne Kills 2 In S.C. | Flood Warnings Issued
• State Of Emergency Declared In N.C. As Jeanne Approaches
• Storm Drenches Georgia | Very Latest Jeanne Stories
• Oil Jumps To $50.35 On Supply Threats, Hurricane Ivan Partly To Blame
• Fla. Residents Wait on Half-Mile Food Line
• Hurricanes Frustrating Travelers
• US Orders ‘Major Disaster’ Aid for Storm-Swept Florida
• ‘Hurricane state’ fears more storms
• 2004 Hurricane Season May Be Costliest on Record
• Weary Floridians Want Return To Normalcy
• Quake-Per-Minute In Washington State
• Alaska Snowfall Signal’s End To Fire Season
• Watch Out For The Harvest Moon Tonight
• Communications Tower Aurora Picture Returns In Astronomy Picture Of The Day

Here’s the latest on Jeanne, now a tropical depression, followed by a mixed-bag of news:

Image (right): Hurricane Frances and Jeanne took a frighteningly similar path, as our home page radar shows at 3 a.m. EDT on Sept. 5 and Sept. 26. Radar image provided by/Copyright CustomWeather.com [Interactive hurricane tracker in new window | Latest U.S. Weather Watches & Warnings]

• Jeanne Stories: Stories & Photos From PalmBeachPost.com
• Jeanne Kills 6 In Florida After Landfall Near Stuart; Storm Left 5.2 Million In Dark; Georgia Drenched (Image slideshow in top picture)
• Video/Slideshow: Jeanne Knocks Reporter Off His Feet
• Image Slideshows Of Jeanne, Ivan, Frances, Charley (Right column) | In new windows: Storm Damage | Coast Hit | Central Fla. | Chopper Images
• More Than 1.7 Million Without Electricity Early Monday
• Survivors In Haiti Short On Food As Death Toll Tops 1,500 (Slideshow inside)
• ‘Situation Remains Critical’: Ankle-Deep In Mud, Haitians Pray For 1,500 Killed By Jeanne
• Jeanne May Lead To Claims Totaling $14 Billion
• Jeanne Remnants Could Curve Back To Florida
• Jeanne Damages NASA’s Spaceport
• Congregations Weather Stormy Yom Kippur
• Hurricanes’ Impact On Florida Court Cases ‘Extensive, Unprecedented’
• Engineers Use Hurricanes To Study Homes
• Very Latest Stories
• Much more on Jeanne in yesterday’s blog entry…
• Other News: Space Awaits: UK Man to Launch Space Tourism in 2007
• Astronomy Picture/Day: Solar Eclipse Shadow On Earth From Space
• Asteroid Flyby Sept. 29
• Quakes Now, Explosion Later?: St. Helens Activity May Signal Explosion
• Grounded Granny: Bad Weather Keeps 78-Year-Old From Jump
• Jim Cantore Story II: Hurricane Chaser Weathering Storms (Another story posted here last Tuesday)
• Finding Fall Foliage: Live Webcams Capture Splendor Of The Season … while I’m not mentioned in the story, feel free to check out the thousands of webcams by city on this site!

Top 5 WXnation.com city weather and webcam pages visited Monday: 1. Atlanta 2. Columbia 3. Orlando 4. Charlotte 5. Jacksonville … See the top 20 so far this month in the left column of our home page.

Image (right): National Weather Service radar, 12:39 a.m. EDT Sunday. Current image

Quick Summary: Hurricane Jeanne made landfall at 11:50 p.m. EDT Saturday at the southern end of Hutchinson Island — 5 miles southeast of Stuart, and within walking distance of Sewalls Point, where Hurricane Frances made landfall exactly three weeks ago. Jeanne made landfall as a Category 3 storm with 120 mph maximum sustained winds. Reports from Florida include six deaths, flooding, roof and mobile home damage, downed trees and power lines, and more than 1.1 million homes and businesses without power. Jeanne is now nearing southern Georgia as a tropical storm and is expected to move east of Atlanta before heading up to North Carolina by Tuesday. Current watches/warnings here

Hurricane Jeanne Stories:

• MSNBC: Jeanne Kills 6 In Florida; Downgraded To Tropical Storm; Hits Florida With 120 Mph Winds; 1.1 Million Without Power | Jeanne’s Death Toll In Haiti At 1,500; At Least 900 Still Missing; 300,000 Homeless (Image slideshow inside story)
• Reuters: Damage Estimated at $4-$8 Billion | Jeanne Floods Florida, Peels Roofs Off Houses; 2 Million Without Power | Jeanne Batters Bahamas
• AP: Jeanne Could Leave Millions Without Power For Weeks | 3 Million Told To Flee | Gov. Jeb Bush: ‘I know people are frustrated. They’re tired of all this’ | Desperate Residents In Haiti Attack Each Other For Food | Northern Bahamas Hit Hard
• USA Today: Jeanne Makes Landfall Near Stuart
• PalmBeachPost.com: Complete Coverage
• WPBF-TV 25, West Palm Beach: Assault On Florida Under Way
• WKMG-TV 6, Orlando: Jeanne Pummels Central Florida With Wind, Rain
• WTVJ-TV 6, Miami: Flood Watch In Effect For All Of South Florida; Single State Hasn’t Been Hit By 4 Hurricanes In Single Season Since Texas In 1886 (Many images in left column)
• AP/WJXT-TV 4, Jacksonville: Tropical Storm-Force Winds To Reach North Florida Late Sunday
• AP/WNCN-TV 17, Raleigh: Jeanne May Hit N.C. As Tropical Depression
• Palm Beach Daily News: Yom Kippur Dilemma Amid Jeanne
• NPR Audio: Jeanne Couldn’t Make Up Its Mind
• Google News: More articles

Hurricane Jeanne Streaming Media:

• Live Streaming Video: NOTE: Most ended live coverage Sunday evening
• WPEC-TV 12, West Palm Beach (In center column)
• WPBF-TV 25, West Palm Beach
• WPTV-TV 5, West Palm Beach (In center column)
• WFOR-TV 4, Miami (In center column)
• WTVJ-TV 6, Miami (Opens new window; Windows Media, broadband only)
• WSVN-TV 7, Miami
• WESH-TV 2, Orlando
• WKMG-TV 6, Orlando
• WFTV-TV 9, Orlando
• Streaming Doppler Radar: WTSP-TV 9, Tampa
• Live Streaming Audio: WFLA-TV 8, Tampa (In right column) | WFLA-AM 970, Tampa (Top right)
• WNJO-AM 1290, West Palm Beach (Link in left column)
• WDBO-AM 580, Orlando (In left column)
• WOKV-AM 690, Jacksonville (In left column)
• WIOD-AM 610, Miami (In left column)
• Find all streaming radio stations by city at Radio-Locator.com (AM News/Talk format best bet).

Hurricane Jeanne Images:

Image (left): NOAA hurricane hunter aircraft flying inside the eye of Hurricane Jeanne on Sept. 22, 2004. Courtesy NOAA. More images and information on Jeanne’s eyewall

Satellite Images: Satellite Imagery Of Jeanne | Intellicast Satellite Loop | Still Image
Radar Images: National Weather Service Miami Radar Loop | Central Florida Radar Loop | Tampa Area Loop | Florida’s Panhandle/Georgia Loop | Wunderground Regional Radar | Many additional satellite and radar images by city
Photos: Jeanne’s Eyewall: Images/Info From NOAA | WTVJ-TV 6, Miami: Image Slideshows of Jeanne, Ivan, Frances, Charley (All in right column box) | Jeanne Slams Into Coast (Opens in new window) | Central Florida Images (Opens in new window) | Chopper 6 Images (Opens in new window) | Relief Efforts Under Way In Haiti (Opens in new window) | Flooding Kills Hundreds In Haiti (Opens in new window) | MSNBC: Jeanne’s Death Toll Climbs (Slideshow inside main image)
Live Webcam Images: West Palm Beach | Orlando | Jacksonville | Miami | Tampa | Florida’s Panhandle | Savannah/SE Georgia | Atlanta/Central Georgia | All U.S. Cities By State
Interactive: Hurricane Tracker (Opens in new window)

Image (left): Courtesy NOAA. Jeanne’s 5-day projected track as of 11 p.m. EDT Sunday. Image links to big version of latest track

Image (lower right) Courtesy NOAA. Infrared satellite image of Hurricane Jeanne at 11:15 p.m. EDT Saturday. Additional satellite imagery of Jeanne

Tropical Storm Jeanne Stats: As of the Tropical Prediction Center’s 11 p.m. EDT Sunday public advisory:

• Maximum Sustained Winds: near 50 mph (down from 55 mph in 8 p.m. update)
• Movement: N near 14 mph (was NNW near 13 mph in last update)
• Location: Latitude 29.9 N Longitude 82.8 W, 35 miles WNW of Gainsville, Florida
• Minimum Central Pressure: 978 mb, 28.88 inches (unchanged from last update)
• Tropical Storm Force Winds Extend: 175 miles from center (unchanged from last update)
• Intensity Prediction: Continued weakening to tropical depression by Monday afternoon
• Rainfall Totals In Path: 4 to 8 inches, with isolated higher amounts
• Notes: The latest 5-day projected track suggests Jeanne will move up central Georgia and toward the Carolinas as a tropical depression by Tuesday.

Watches & Warnings: National Weather Service U.S. Map | South Florida | East-Central Florida | NE Florida/SE Georgia | West-Central Florida | Florida Panhandle | Northern/Central Georgia

From the Tropical Prediction Center’s 11 p.m. EDT Sunday public advisory:

THE TROPICAL STORM WARNING ON THE FLORIDA GULF COAST WEST OF APALACHICOLA AND SOUTH OF ANCLOTE KEY HAS BEEN DISCONTINUED. — A TROPICAL STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT ON THE ATLANTIC COAST FROM NORTH OF COCOA BEACH NORTHWARD TO THE SAVANNAH RIVER…AND ON THE GULF COAST FROM ANCLOTE KEY NORTHWARD TO APALACHICOLA.

Jeanne-Related Closings: See our pages for the following areas: West Palm Beach, Orlando, Jacksonville, Miami and Tampa

Florida Shelters List: All Florida Shelters from EOConline.org

Help Hurricane Victims: American Red Cross: 1-800-HELP-NOW | Catholic Charities | Salvation Army | FEMA | FloridaDisaster.org Jamaica Victims Help: Jamaica Impact, Inc. (JAMPACT)

Hurricane Jeanne Blog Coverage:

• CapitalWeather.com
• WeatherUSA.net Blog
• Tampa Bay Online Blogging Jeanne
• flhurricane.com
• Moreweather.com Atlantic Tropical Weather Page
• WeatherBug
• WeatherBlog
• On The Third Hand: List of Bloggers At The Scene

Top 5 WXnation.com city weather and webcam pages visited Sunday: 1. Orlando 2. West Palm Beach 3. Tampa 4. Jacksonville 5. Miami …

… and Top 5 for Saturday (no surprises here): 1. West Palm Beach 2. Miami 3. Orlando 4. Jacksonville 5. Tampa … See the top 20 so far this month in the left column of our home page.

Quick weather news round-up:

• Quakes At Mount St. Helens: Hundreds Of Tiny Earthquakes Reported At Mount St. Helens
• Winds Get Best Of Ivan: Winds Cut Down Ivan’s Rains
• About That Year When 4 Hurricanes Hit Texas (1886): The 4 Storms That Hit Texas (Registration required)
• Woes Continue After Jeanne Batters Haiti: Storms Hand Haiti More Troubles
• Great White Shark … You’ve Been Tagged!: Researchers Afix Satellite Tracking Device On 15-Foot Shark
• Stable Beneath Antarctica?: Researchers Discovere Unexpected Folded Section Deep Beneath Ice Cap
• ISS Faces Low Oxygen, Food: Oxygen, Food On International Space Station Expected To Be Worrisomely Low By Christmas

The remnants of Hurricane Ivan, which made a giant loop and formed Tropical Storm Ivan in the Gulf of Mexico with 45 mph winds, came ashore near Port Arthur, Texas Thursday night. In the Tropical Prediction Center’s 10 p.m. CDT Thursday advisory, Ivan was downgraded to a tropical depression with 35 mph winds. Rainfall accumulations of 5 to 10 inches — with isolated higher amounts — are possible in Ivan’s path. See the projected track, which takes it around Houston and down to Corpus Christi by Sunday. Newsday Story | KPRC-TV 2, Houston Story

Top 5 WXnation.com city weather and webcam pages visited Friday: 1. West Palm Beach 2. Houston 3. Orlando 4. Miami 5. Dallas-Fort Worth … See the top 20 so far this month in the left column of our home page.

• Genesis Capsule Crash Probe: Genesis Capsule Headed To Colorado
• Waiting On The Line: 11,000 In Central, Northeast Florida Still Without Phone Service After Hurricanes Frances, Charley
• NPR Audio: Alabama’s Poor Facing Tough Times After Storms
• Twin Forecasts: Penn State students Hope To Be First Identical Twin TV Meteorologists In U.S. — One could describe that it is partly sunny, and the other mention that it is mostly cloudy!
• Summer Served Up In Fall: Midwest Finally Gets Its Summer
• Check Your LASIK Forecast?: Study: LASIK Eye Surgery Less Effective In Humid Weather; Researchers: Moisture In Air Could Weaken Laser’s Strength
• Astronomy Picture Of The Day: On clear, moonless nights, the stars still come out with a vengeance above the high-altitude La Silla astronomical observatory. Taking advantage of a recent visit to the first European Southern Observatory site constructed on a mountain top in Chile, ESO software engineer Nico Housen recorded this stunning sky view.

Top 5 WXnation.com city weather and webcam pages visited Thursday: 1. Houston 2. West Palm Beach 3. New Orleans 4. Orlando 5. Mobile … See the top 20 so far this month in the left column of our home page.

Living On The Bright Side Of Town: As a resident of north Fort Worth, I can happily say that I am just minutes away from the second-oldest burning light bulb, which was first flicked on back on Sept. 21, 1908. Details on the bulb and its’ 96th birthday party here. Now, if I can just get my backyard porch light to stay burning for longer than three weeks, I’ll be set!

What Was That Song On The Weather Channel?: Earlier this summer, I added an entry here about tracking down Ryan Farish’s “Beautiful” CD after hearing “Full Sail” played during TWC’s “Local On The 8’s” segment. [Farish’s music clips and a streaming Internet broadcast here] Yesterday, visitor Greg Davidson commented that he was searching for songs played on the local forecast back in the late ’80s and early ’90s. He included a link to TWCclassics.com, which has an extensive audio library, video clips of old local forecasts and much more. Ah, the old computerized white-on-purple scrolling text and primitive graphics… Thanks for the link, Greg!

Top 5 WXnation.com city weather and webcam pages visited Wednesday: 1. Panama City 2. Mobile 3. New Orleans 4. Miami 5. Denver … See the top 20 so far this month in the left column of our home page.