CFHC Talkback For News Story #58:
Newest Talkback: 11:21 AM 07-23 EDT

Lets Go for no Named Systems in July!
10:35 AM EDT - 20 July 2001

Right now is the calm before the storm... so instead of talking about all the amazing systems we are watching and a cool sat graphic of it, instead we have the infinitely more interesting photo of a bunch of happy walruses...

Apologies to LtM

We're now shooting for a named storm free July, and it's a much better goal than wanting a storm to show up. Make no mistake, although we enjoy tracking the systems. A record dull year is what I hope for. No landfalls and no majors.

One speck of clouds south of Bermuda... 
(forget it) 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 (sure thing)
           [-*--------------------]

It'll be quiet for a few more days at least. I don't see anything coming up next week either yet. So enjoy the quiet! We'll awaken from slumber eventually, and hopefully not shaken awake. The season really gets moving next month.

NRL Monterey Marine Meteorology Division Forecast Track of Active Systems (Good Forecast Track Graphic and Satellite Photos)

NASA GHCC Interactive Satellite images at:
[NAtl visible] (visible -- Daytime Only) [NAtl infrared] (infrared), and [NAtl water vapor] (water vapor)--Nasa source.
Defiant Visible Infrared More...
Other commentary at: Mike Anderson's East Coast Tropical Weather Center - Accuweather's Joe Bastardi - SCOTTSVB's Hurricane Update Center - Jim Williams' Hurricane City - Gary Gray's Millennium Weather - Even More on our Links Page

Some Forecast models: (NGM, AVN, MRF, ECMWF, ETA)
DoD weather models (NOGAPS, AVN, MRF)
AVN, ECMWF, GFDL, NOGAPS, UKMET

- [mac]

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Displaying Talkbacks #1 - #3 (of 45 total)
Not Sure 'bout that (#1)
Posted by: Steve H
Posted On 11:57AM 20-Jul-2001 with id (RPUNQXXNQYSNRX*)

I still say watch the Eastern Atlantic. It could give us a Barry withing the next 5 days. Cheers!!
PS (#2)
Posted by: Steve H
Posted On 11:58AM 20-Jul-2001 with id (RPUNQXXNQYSNRX*)

Like the walrus' though. Cheers!!
Yep (#3)
Posted by: Mike C. (http://flhurricane.com) Location: Orlando, FL (Currently)
Posted On 12:33PM 20-Jul-2001 with id (RPXNVSNQVVNRRX*)

I'd wait a bit more on the Eastern Atlantic. If it were to break "No named storms in July", I agree it would be there.
Man Screwing with nature (#4)
Posted by: Robert
Posted On 02:33PM 20-Jul-2001 with id (QRNYTNRQNQVV*)

Jul 19, 2001


Potential Hurricane Modifier Tested off Florida Coast
By Amanda Riddle
Associated Press Writer

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) - A company developing an absorbent powder it says could eventually weaken a hurricane sucked the moisture out of a thunderstorm Thursday in its latest test of the product.

Dyn-O-Mat President J.D. Dutton said the test on a rain cloud 10 miles off the coast of Jupiter was a success. A radar image confirmed that the cloud lost moisture after an airplane dropped the small granules.

The Riviera Beach-based company, which makes environmental absorbent products, said it would try to get federal funding for the next test on a tropical depression.

The project, which aims to eventually be able to reduce a hurricane by 15 mph, has cost the company $1 million.

Hugh Willoughby, hurricane research director at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Miami, said a year ago that the product could be used as a rainmaker but wasn't strong enough to disrupt a hurricane.

At that time, the product absorbed 250 times its own weight in water, but the company developed a stronger product that absorbs 2,000 times its own weight.

Willoughby, however, remained skeptical that the powder could reduce a hurricane's strength by more than a few miles per hour.

"It might be that this stuff would be great for making it rain," he said.

A B-57 Canberra airplane took off from the Palm Beach International Airport on Thursday afternoon. It dropped $40,000 worth of granules into the storm. The granules absorbed the cloud's moisture, then fell into the ocean as a gel-like substance, the company said.

The biodegradable substance dissolves when it comes into contact with the salt water, the company said.

"The people in the tower visually confirmed that there was a tall buildup and the next moment it was gone," said Kevin Sullivan, supervisor of the airport control tower.

Peter Cordani, Dyn-O-Mat's chief executive officer, got the idea in 1998 after using a common gardening product that keeps water near a plant's roots.

Cordani hopes to eventually sell the product to the federal government, which could use planes to drop it into a hurricane as it swirls offshore, removing moisture and weakening the storm before it makes landfall.

"What we're looking to do is to take that tremendous wind sheer out of a hurricane," Dutton said.

Even if the product fails to take the punch out of a hurricane, the company has developed other versions of the polymer it is selling to fight wildfires, retain ground moisture and seed a cloud to make rain.

---

On the Net:

Dyn-O-Mat: www.dynomat.com/index.shtml

AP-ES-07-19-01 1747EDT

This story can be found at : ap.tbo.com/ap/florida/MGAW1Y62DPC.html

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