The system we have all been watching for the past few days in the western Atlantic has finally started to show some organization today. Convection is starting to occur on both sides of the center of low pressure, and developing close to the center, also. With the upper-level winds becoming more favorable for development and warm water between the storm and the east coast, NHC feels we could have a tropical storm on our hands tonight, and may issue tropical storm watches along the Atlantic coast soon. See J.B.’s post below for the NHC statement on this system.
Meanwhile, plenty of showers are also in the Gulf of Mexico. The NAM shows a tropical system developing out there over the weekend, then moving at Texas. This is really tough to call, since the system hasn’t really developed yet. With the possibility of a cold front coming down into the plains, the track of a potential storm on the Texas coast could bring rain our way next week, but that is way too hard to tell now.
Regarding James’ extremely rigorous schedule, I first of all have to say hats off. Wow. How can he run on such little sleep? This is a man who truely loves what he is doing, and is very good at it.
Many meteorologists are like this. It’s not a field that people often just fall into. Many I’ve talked to loved weather since a very early age (3 for me). Sure, one can make a decent living in meteorology, too. But, very few mets are rich. Also, there are the hours. Researchers often work 6 days per week, up to 14 hours per day, when a conference presentation or paper is due, (I do this kind of schedule a lot, but still enjoy my job more than I have since I was at NWS in college.) We’ve seen what TV hours are like from James’ post! Wow.
I’d like to give a shout-out to the people in National Weather Service offices across the country. I worked there as a student for years, but only for a year as a full-time person out of graduate school. That one year of rotating shift work showed me how tough that is. That’s what they do all the time. People have to be there, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, 365 days per year, watching for any threatening storms, providing aviation forecasts, etc. Typically, one works the evening shift for a week, then the day shift for a week, then the midnight shift for a week. Then it starts again. It’s like jet lag all the time. Sleep is tough to get. And, people have to work Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Year’s, July 4, and Memorial Day. It’s a rewarding, but tough job, and I don’t know if people out there know just how rigorous it is. Give them a call someday, 205-664-3010 (BHM, or look up your local office public number), and let them know you appreciate what they do.
