July (they/them)

Taiwan's CMR (Central Mountain Range) does terrifying things to tropical cyclones. Almost looks like a river came from it. I'd hate to be on Yonaguni right now. Also caused the storm motion to swing westward toward Taipei.

Yikes.

Evolution of Super Typhoon #Champi over the last 24 hours. Watch until the end to see the rapid deepening over the past 6 hours following what was likely ERC.

JTWC is assessing the storm at 155kt as of 12z, up from 135kt at 06z. Meanwhile automated sat guidance is not impressed; ADT is only giving CI 6.6 (130 kt). This is possibly due to the storm's huge size; the Himawari target domain is 1000x1000km2 --> weaker eyewall pressure gradient maybe assumed

Ten years ago today (eastern time): Hurricane Matthew reaches Category 5 intensity, the first to do so since Felix (2007). Matthew caused devastation across the Caribbean, esp. in Haiti, where over 500-1000 people were killed and cholera cases spiked across the impoverished southern region.

Matthew holds the record for the southernmost Cat 5 in the Atlantic basin, and ended the 2008-2015 Cat 5 drought. Since Matthew there have been 12 more Atlantic Cat 5s. The storm is regarded as the worst weather disaster in Haiti's recent history. Aftermath via NYT: www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

A case of a rapidly strengthening TC with eyewall lightning nearly completely absent, assuming there's no undersampling. To me this suggests distinct modes of vortex structure during intensification.

Again I'm noticing an annular appearance (latest SHIPS annular hurricane index is 80/100) and relatively weak/low-topped eyewall asymmetries similar to Karina. Interestingly Nolo's presentation here looks kind of "in between" those of Karina and Lowell in the quoted post's snapshots.

Wow. My first dentist appointment here was ~3.5k yen (about $22). Follow up visits are ~1k. They said I'll need five or six follow ups to fully clean my teeth (they only do portions at a time, each visit is ~30 mins), but still I'm maybe looking at <$60 for a cleaning + small chipped tooth fix.

I used to think I would celebrate the day N-S smoothness was solved, but mostly I just feel numb.

This depression simply will not let go of me.

Some reflections after one month. Noticing more and more signs that I'm starting to identify more as my new name. It's feeling less weird, for one. I'm starting to think about myself and my place in the world in terms of July. Meanwhile hearing my old name is becoming more jarring and dysphoric.

Two TCs with nearly identical intensity, but only one with an electrified eyewall. Finding out why is really interesting to me and IMO would strongly benefit storm nowcasting. Definitely on my "millenium prize" list of TC internal dynamics questions.

The most obvious differences are Lowell's small eye w/ bursting convection & significantly colder CDO Tbs vs Karina's annular presentation. Karina has also been steadier than still-intensifying Lowell. But that's not nearly enough physical info. Steady/weakening TCs do have these eyewall outbreaks.

Today marks the halfway point of the official Atlantic hurricane season. Here's how each northern hemisphere basin is doing so far in 2026 compared to the 1991-2020 average ACE. Figures are from here: tropical.atmos.colostate.edu/Realtime/ind...

Ida was the last major hurricane I chased. This is footage of the strongest conditions at my location in Houma. I vaguely recall winds like this were intermittent but short lived, so maybe caused by a roll or inner band. We didn't get deep into the eyewall, but this might be representative of it.

I never shared this footage publicly before, & since then I actually deleted most of my video from Ida. I hated what I saw in the midst of it, from the suffering of the people sheltering in the hotel to the damage in the town afterward. For some things I don't need much more than the memory to carry

Five years ago today: Hurricane Ida makes landfall in Louisiana with maximum winds of 150mph (240km/h). Later as an extratropical cyclone, Ida caused destructive flooding and a tornado outbreak across the northeast U.S., ultimately resulting in at least $75 billion in damages and 87 deaths.

Fun with RGB channels. Video shows false color imagery of Lala's intensification into a major hurricane over the course of yesterday (Aug 18 local time). Lala currently threatens #Kauō / #Laysan in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands w/ 125mph (205km/h) winds, but is expected to weaken from here on.