Happy Memorial Day!

In honor of this day for our military, I will be writing a second post immediately after this one going back through American War History and seeing how weather affected different battles and wars.

For this post though, I'd like to bring everyone's attention to the scattered severe thunderstorms which arose yesterday afternoon in the Southeastern US. Last night while I was looking at the radar I noticed numerous severe thunderstorm warnings scattered in SC, GA, and FL counties, including a tornado warning in Jacksonville, FL. With the temperature rising in the US, and moisture coming up from the Gulf of Mexico, more and more of these sporadic thunderstorms are possible across our region. 

I'd also like to take a look at the Eastern Pacific Ocean south of Mexico. Yesterday, Hurricane Amanda because the first hurricane of the season and is quite possibly the strongest May hurricane in history, currently sitting at a Saffir-Simpson Category 4 with sustained winds of 115 kts (135 mph) and a central pressure of 949 mb.
Based on forecasts for Amanda, it looks as though she should be dying out within the next couple of days without doing any damage to the coastline. With hurricanes though, there's no telling what might happen to spark another increase in strength.

For anyone living in Western Mexico, NM, AZ, or CA, it would be wise to keep an eye out for Amanda over the next couple of days just to make sure of a more sea-ward path. It is likely that hurricane Amanda will decrease in strength over the next 48 hours and turn out toward the open ocean.

Below I have posted the current NHC (National Hurricane Center) advisory for Hurricane Amanda.

ZCZC MIATWOEP ALL
TTAA00 KNHC DDHHMM

TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK
NWS NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
500 AM PDT MON MAY 26 2014

For the eastern North Pacific...east of 140 degrees west longitude:

The National Hurricane Center is issuing advisories on major
Hurricane Amanda, located several hundred miles south of the
southern tip of Baja California Mexico.

Tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next 5 days.

$$
Forecaster Landsea
NNNN

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No More Out of Control Fires!!

I am pleased to announce that there are ZERO Red Flag warnings on the NWS county forecast map meaning that fire departments either have the wildfires under control, or put out. A lot of the time, with the dry, windy conditions, controlled fires can get out of hand and break their containment. It is in these instances that Red Flag warnings are issued to inform natives and travelers that fires are running out of control and to be mindful of possible hazardous conditions. Currently though, there are no out-of-control fires to speak of. 

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There is a system moving through Texas right now which was strong enough to issue a severe thunderstorm warning. There is some rotation visible in the system so those living in the San Antonio area stay tuned to your local station for updates. Also flash flood warnings and watches have been issued for Victoria, Texas as well as Central and Western Texas and Southeastern NM.