Sunday, July 07, 2013

Atlantic Blobette and Men's Single Wimbledon Championship: July 7, Update A

Here we are at the second annual ‘Murray vs that other chap Wimbledon Gentlemen Championship Match blog post’. To show my support I’m having british pancakes with a nice cup of tea. Murray just won the first set! This is such an exciting match that I’m already on the edge of my seat!

So, after a nice quiet few weeks I see that there’s a cute little blobette in the Atlantic.

She is heading due west at about 25mph and from this satellite visible image it looks like she is centered around 8N, 43W. Although the official verdict gives her a 40% chance of development in the next 48 hours, I think she may already be either a Tropical Depression or even possibly a Tropical Storm (next name is Chantal) because it looks to me like the circulation is pretty good over the entire lower half of the troposphere (<jargon alert> see here for description of troposphere: http://jyotikastorms.blogspot.com/2013/06/gulf-of-mexico-blobette-june-4-update-a.html <end jargon alert>).

(YES! 2nd set to Murray!! J - Fred Perry, in 1936, was the last British man to win the Wimbledon singles championship!)

She is actually quite far south for a tropical storm at that longitude but it’s too soon to say where she will make the curve to the north because she’s a few days away from the Caribbean. You can see where she is relative to land in this infrared satellite image:

For now it looks like she will continue westward because there is an area of high pressure to her north. I’d get ready for a bit of interesting weather if I were on the Windward Islands.

(Goodness me but there are a lot of people in suits and ties at this Wimbledon final.)

Wind shear is quite low and the sea surface water temperatures are warm enough at 27-29 deg C, so I expect she will continue to develop slowly. The only inhibiting factor I see is the Saharan Air Layer (SAL) which is to her west and north. <Rather Obvious Jargon Alert!> Saharan Air Layer (SAL): This is dry dusty air blowing off northern Africa (the Sahara Desert to be precise, in case the name didn’t give that away ;-)) and usually inhibits storm development. <End Rather Obvious Jargon Alert!>

(What a match! I am now writing from the floor, having fallen off the edge of my seat part way through the third set. ;-))

Here is an image of the SAL (red stuff) and our little blobette (gray clouds) on the southern edge (near 40W):

Murray just took the lead 5-4 in the third set! Murray’s serve (hopefully this is the last point, recorded here for posterity)… 15-love… 30-love… 40-love, championship point!!!!!... aaagh, 40-15… second championship point… aaagh, 40-30… come on Murray!... doh! Out… deuce…sigh. Oh noes, in the net!! Who put that net there anyway? Aaagh. Advantage Djokovic… phew, back to deuce… oh NOOO just over the net!! Advantage Djokovic again. How can this stress be good for our hearts?!? Yes!… nice shot. Back to deuce. Oh WHAT! Ok, I admit that was a good just-over-the-net shot by Djokovic… advantage to him. Again. Sigh. Yes!… nicely played Murray! Back to deuce. (I’m not going to have any fingernails left if this carries on!). YES YES… advantage Murray!!! Championship point number 4… HE WON!!!!!!!! <breathe> !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. WOW! 77 years!! Amazing. I'd like to take the week off to celebrate (along with everyone else in the UK)... do you think anyone will notice? ;-)

Guess I’ll be back for the blobette tomorrow. Time for some celebratory somethings or other! J J

J.

p.s. nice interviews, including the one by Novak Djokovic.  

Blogs archived at http://jyotikastorms.blogspot.com/
Twitter @JyovianStorm

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DISCLAIMER: These remarks are just what I think/see regarding tropical storms - not the opinion of any organization I represent. If you are making an evacuation decision, please heed your local emergency management and the National Hurricane Center's official forecast and the National Weather Service announcements. This is not an official forecast. If I "run away, run away" (Monty Python), I'll let you know.
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