A random thread for weatherish things that don't warrant a thread of their own.

[nextSibling]

It seems most of western USAnia is either on fire or coughing its head off right now.  Nice Lady in the car park says the interstate through the Columbia River gorge had to be closed this afternoon and two towns evacuated.

Guess where I'm heading tomorrow

WA14 on the N side is open, but could be busy and expect foul air. Our air is officially described as "Unhealthy to Very Unhealthy" right now due to the Columbia Gorge fires, high temperatures and extremely dry conditions in general.

[L CC]

Dear fboab-at-work,
The intended vessel details are as below:
ETS: 09/17
ETA: 10/03
However, we have Hurricane Irma headed straight towards us. If it does not weaken and/or change paths, I see shipping being delayed for quite some time.

Fingers Crossed she's not as devastating as Harvey

Floridians don't usually get scared of Hurricanes. This one is terrifying.

[Chris S]

Couple of notable soundbites today regarding Irma:

Journo: "How bad is it?"
Met guy: "It's pretty much at the limit of what the planet is actually capable of producing"

and

Journo: "Those wind speeds are insane!"
Met guy: "Yes - those gusts are what you might expect from a moderate tornado - only over several hundred square miles, not several hundred yards."

[T42]

St-Barthélmy devastated.  St-Martin worse: the four most solid buildings on the island destroyed, so probably every other too.

[Mr Larrington]

It seems most of western USAnia is either on fire or coughing its head off right now.  Nice Lady in the car park says the interstate through the Columbia River gorge had to be closed this afternoon and two towns evacuated.

Guess where I'm heading tomorrow

WA14 on the N side is open, but could be busy and expect foul air. Our air is officially described as "Unhealthy to Very Unhealthy" right now due to the Columbia Gorge fires, high temperatures and extremely dry conditions in general.

Yep, came down that way this afternoon.  Not nearly as busy as I'd feared, not least because trucks were being kept off it, but the air quality does indeed leave something to be desired, like an aqualung.


P9060325 by Mr Larrington, on Flickr

View of the Mighty Columbia from WA-14 this afternoon.  Heading south tomorrow, though Nice Man in Gas Station reckoned the chances of a smoke-free time will have to wait until reaching California.  My chums in Eureka CA say different.

[ian]

I was going to suggest SoCal, but then no, even without the wildfires. LA is a bit chewy at the moment.

[L CC]

I don't want to sound like a swivel eyed loon, but anyone might think that some kind of higher power had it in for the U S of A at the moment.

Is anyone building an Ark, there? Or painting lintels?

[T42]

Isn't it called reaping the whirlwind?

[ian]

One can't help but hope that someone called Irma has booked a long stay in Mar-a-Lago.

[cycleman]

Maybe it's karma for the Americans electing trump   

[Cudzoziemiec]

Jose and Katie on the way, so that's a trio. Or a trinity if you prefer. Apparently the last time there were three hurricanes in the Atlantic together was in 2010, so that's seven years ago. Ooh, all those prime numbers!

[citoyen]

All I can say is I'm glad my son got back from Cuba in July and isn't there now. Not sure if Cuba is directly in Irma's path, but I doubt it will escape unharmed.

Maybe it's karma for the Americans electing trump   

I'm sure the people of St-Martin, Barbuda and Puerto Rico take some comfort from that thought.

[Mr Larrington]

All I can say is I'm glad my son got back from Cuba in July and isn't there now. Not sure if Cuba is directly in Irma's path, but I doubt it will escape unharmed.

Looks as though it's going to bounce off the northern coast of Cuba and turn hard right over the Keys and Miami, and then head northwards towards Georgia and the Carolinas.

In other news, I've just seen blue sky for the first time since leaving South Dakota on Sunday morning.

[nextSibling]

Maybe it's karma for the Americans electing trump   

Most of us didn't.

[spesh]

Well, shit...

I combined the images of Hurricane Andrew (1992) & Hurricane Irma (today) at scale in a gif. Irma is a damn leviathan.

https://twitter.com/JoelNihlean/status/905845846687789058

For context, Andrew is the last Category 5 hurricane to make landfall in the USA. Andrew had peak gusts of 177mph - Irma currently has sustained wind speeds of 175mph with gusts of 210mph.

[ElyDave]

Our Houston office was unusable, folks there not quite resurfaced yet.

We also have folks based in the Carolinas, Louisiana.

I don't think they all voted for the bleached dickhead

[T42]

The University of Miami has a hurricane tank that can simulate a Cat. 5.  It's smack on the waterfront, so they can make direct comparisons this weekend.

[T42]

France Info just cheerily promised us a month's worth of rain between 10 pm and 2 am tonight.

[Wowbagger]

Blimmin cold here. Cloudy and 11°C. More like bloody January.

[T42]

3°C yesterday morning, vs. 20° this time last year.

[Jurek]

Just taken out the re-cycling.
That smokey autumnal smell is very much in evidence this evening.
Nice.

[Basil]

Just taken out the re-cycling.
That smokey autumnal smell is very much in evidence this evening.
Nice.

We've had that here since June 22nd.   

Llandismal.
June 19th.  Last day of winter.
June 20th.  Spring.
June 21st.  Summer
June 22nd. First day of Autumn.

[Jurek]

Just taken out the re-cycling.
That smokey autumnal smell is very much in evidence this evening.
Nice.

We've had that here since June 22nd.   

Llandismal.
June 19th.  Last day of winter.
June 20th.  Spring.
June 21st.  Summer
June 22nd. First day of Autumn.

Yebbut, you are in Ruralshire 
I fall within the bounds of a frequent bus service.
Not that I recommend the use thereof.

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

It's been rather wet in India:

http://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-asia-india-41350289/mumbai-train-gets-water-ride

[Mr Larrington]

Today was the first day ever that I have been on the Scorching Plains™ of New Mexico that they've actually more-or-less lived up to the name.  It was about 32 degrees when I arrived in Deming this afternoon but natch Facething is telling me it's going to be a lot cooler tomorrow.