Continued Frustration with the Oil Spill... Severe Weather this week... More heat, then coolelr... First Tropical Weather Update of the Year...

Weather Forecast:
Part 1: Oil Spill Frustration
Part 2: Severe weather this week?
Part 3: Another Heat wave?
Part 4: First Tropical Update of the year!!!!
Part 5: Westport Weather Update...

Part 1:



The big topic today will be about the extremely frustrating oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico... The extremely aggravating and disappointing news yesterday about BP's failed attempt yet again got people angry at the way BP was handling the whole situation... Now BP is making yet another dangerous and risky attempt to try and stop what is now the worst oil spill in U.S. history.
So what's in store now? Well BP says they are going to do a "temporary" fix. They plan to cut off the damaged rinser, which of course is causing this oil to leek, and then try to cap it with a containment valve. This whole process is expected to take between 4 and 7 days. Once again, BP is acting very optimistic toward this new operation, but of course they cannot guarantee anything at this point. Many do not realize just how risky this attempt is; if they fail to screw on the valve after cutting off the rinser, the oil which is leaking out with increase by a lot.
Personally, at the beginning of this situation, I was angry that other people were giving so much negative attention toward BP... If you think about it, what else could they really do? They're already on there 4th or 5th attempt in about 6 weeks to try and stop this thing, and don't plan to stop until everything is back to normal... Now, even I am getting frustrated with BP because they are acting like everything is going to be OK, meanwhile in reality it is not. We have man made disasters before that we were able to fix, but i believe this time we have just gone too far.
Even this new plan, is no easy job... Trying to do anything 5,000 feet under the sea can be nothing of an easy magnitude!!!! Now a new problem is introduced as if we don't have enough problems... Hurricane Season is officially starting Tuesday and is expected to be one of this worst on record... NOAA, the national weather service, the Weather Channel, and even Accuweather.com's meteorologist Joe Bastardi all believe we are on track for a hurricane season similar to 2005 (The Year of Katrina), and 1969 (The Year of Camille). So what could this do to the oil... Well it could do a number of bad things... Storm surges would cause oil to move further inland, Heavy rains and Winds over the Gulf would spread oil out further and more widespread, and finally it would further delay the efforts to try and clean the oil... (For more on the Hurricane season be sure to check out Part 4).
What a lot of people are completely un-aware of, is that there are things that we can do to help this problem...:

1. Matter of Trust
As a former dog groomer who saw bags of dog hair being thrown away everyday wondering if there was ANYTHING that could be done to use it, here it is. The folks at Matter of Trust take trimmed hair from salons, pet grooming shops, even individuals, stuff it in to used nylons and use it to soak up oil. Go to your local hair salon, grooming shop, farm, or anywhere you can think of and ask if they would donate to the program. They are also looking for used nylons, even with snags, so get in to your drawers and send them off. This is a perfect way to use discarded items to make a difference.

2. Suncoast Sea Bird Sanctuary

According to their website they are the largest non-profit wild bird hospital in the United States and admits up to 8,000 birds annually. As they prepare for the effects on the Florida coastline they are in need of linens, kennels, towels, sheets, dawn detergent, paper towels, bottled water and Gatorade.You can also donate money directly to the website.

3. Audubon. Large societies like the Audubon are great resources to collect a high number of volunteers and funds in order to help the entire coastline. Their website notes that they are “currently marshaling volunteer resources, leading restoration for Louisiana coastal resources for the long term, and working for safer energy solutions”.

4.Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana Here is a website that gives information for those who are pre-veterinary students, vet technicians, and anyone with hazardous material training that would be able to volunteer. The people who show up on scene need resources for lodging, food, and supplies so if you cannot donate your time you can donate money online.

Please do not attempt to clean up oil or handle wild animals without training and proper equipment. If you see an oiled animal call 1-866-557-1401. There are many different resources for you to help so do not risk doing it without support of one of these, or any other organizations.

-Special thanks to "the mindful consumer" for the helpful tips on the oil spill help!

Part 2:

Since this is probably one of the longest blogs I have ever written, i am going to try to keep the different parts as short as possible!!!! Let me start off by saying, this is not going to be a major severe weather outbreak, but at least something to watch... I am still waiting for a large outbreak in the northeast!!!! I am going to start using a new strategy for forecasting the severe weather... Here it is, and i think the map should explain the rest...

Level 1: Dark clouds, Downpours, Thunder, Breezy
Level 2: Dark clouds, Heavy downpours, Lightning and Thunder (some ground lightning), Winds between 30-50 mph, Penny- Quarter sized hail
Level 3: Dark clouds, Drenching downpours, Ground lightning, Winds between 40-70 mph, Isolated Tornadoes, Pin pong ball- tennis ball size Hail
Level 4: Pitch Black clouds, Blinding rains, Ground Lightning, Hurricane force winds, Tornadoes likely, Baseball- Softball+ size Hail, Severe Weather Outbreak!



Part 3:

Record breaking heat took over the northeast last week, will it do it again? It will be hot, but i wouldn't say record breaking... The hottest day will probably be today and the heat should last into at least tomorrow, before cooling down on Tuesday, but then even hotter weather is likely to take place Wednesday and into Thursday, before cooling down into your weekend... So you can say that this week will be a heat wave kind of week with temperatures well above average into your first week of June!!!!

Part 4:



I am happy to announce that is will be the first "tropic weather update" of the year!!!! If you thought i was overboard with the winter, just wait until the hurricane season really gets underway... Unfortunately, i cannot enjoy this season as much due to the oil spill problems and hurricane problems combined results... Not too good... None the less, I am still excited.
Currently we are quite in the Atlantic Basin, but not in the Eastern Pacific... Agatha hit the the Mexican coast, near Guatemala, where already 12 lives have been lost due to mud slides, and heavy rain... Agatha packed winds of about 45 mph with gusts close to 60 mph at its strongest point, but has now been downgraded to a Tropical Rainstorm.
So now what? Well the path of this storm is what interests me the most... Later today and into tomorrow it will either be just off of, or on the very eastern edge of the Mexican coast... It is expected to cross through the extreme southern end of the gulf, and then extreme northern edge of the Caribbean, just to the north of Cuba... By mid-week it is expected to make a landfall somewhere in Florida, and by the end of the week, up into the Gulf stream... So what happens in this time period? Well regardless of strengthening or not, Florida can expect some heavy rain and breezy winds into their Wednesday and Thursday... But Re-strengthening is not so far fetched... Warm waters await the storm on the other end of Mexico where it could at least become a depression, and possibly a tropical storm... If it were to get this far, it would be re-named Alex, and would be the first tropical storm of the year.
Before i get too out of hand here, let me just touch up on the forecast for the rest of this season... Most forecasters say it will not be a pretty one, and is likely to be in the top worst seasons on record!!!! Up to 25 storms of at least tropical storm strength is possible, up to 12 of those storms could become at least category 1 status, and up to 7, yes 7, could be of category 3 status or higher!!!! That is impressive... Meteorologists compare this season to seasons like 2005 and 1969...

Part 5:

Beautiful day today, so be sure to get out and enjoy it... Temperatures will likely reach 85 degrees today with bright sunshine... Similar forecast for tomorrow with slightly cooler weather and a couple of passing clouds... Tuesday may be a different story though with Severe Weather possible throughout the day... Right now i give Tuesday a level 2 for my severe weather scale which is not such a nice day... A level 2 means Dark clouds, Heavy downpours, Lightning and Thunder (some ground lightning), Winds between 30-50 mph, and Penny- Quarter sized hail... So maybe not such a pretty day, non the less, it is not expected to be an all day event, since the storms should be scattered... That's it for now, enjoy your memorial day weekend...

-Scott Pecoriello

100th blog update...Special surprise...

Welcome to the 100th blog update!!!! Since its the 100th, I threw in a surprise!!!! I am happy to introduce to you the first video blog of Wild About Weather!!!! I hope you enjoy!!!! (The videos go in order... Even Westport weather is in there!)













That's it for now... Hope you enjoyed!!!! More updates coming soon!!!!

-Scott Pecoriello

Major or Minor storm on the way?

Weather Forecast:
Part 1: Very quick update on what could be a pretty bad storm...

Part 1:

Just quickly glancing at a couple of the models, the potential is there for a potentially major storm come tomorrow and into Tuesday... It looks like Virginia, DC, and just to the south of Philly, this storm is likely going to strike badly, but north of there the forecast gets complicated... Right now the WRF model shows this storm the worst... What it seems to show is a storm riding along I-95 with heavy rains, some potentially strong winds, and occasional severe storms... Tomorrow the storm will be right along the mid-Atlantic region from FL to DC... By tomorrow night the storm will take one of two paths... It either stays along I-95 and slams Philly, NYC, and up toward Boston, or it turns out to sea with just a couple of showers for Philly, NYC, and Boston... The WRF, though, really shows a bad storm with tropical like features... According to the weather channel, weather.com, and Accuweather, this storm, as of right now, is nothing too bad for the Northeast, but could easily shift its track... Of course this is something we will monitor over the next 2 days, before the storm is gone...

-Scott Pecoriello

Eyjafjallajokull is at it again... Thunderstorms tomorrow, who will get hit the hardest? Quiet and warm weather to follow the action...

Weather Forecast:
Part 1: The volcano is back... What scientists say will happen next...
Part 2: Thunderstorms for who? How severe?!?!
Part 3: Spring to return...
Part 4: Westport Weather...

Part 1:

Just a quick update on the volcano Eyjafjallajokull that I used to obsess over in previous blogs... After having the volcano erupt for about a month, it took a 3-5 week period break... And now it is back!!!! Just 2 days ago it began spewing ash and smoke into the sky affected now parts of Africa... Such bad effects from the volcano forced major African airports to shut down... So why isn't this all over the news like before? Honestly i don't know, and i would think people would be making a bigger deal over this... But scientists do predict it will continue to erupt for at least a month!!!!... Well that's all for now... Check back for more updates later...

Part 2:

Well more tornado's and loads of severe weather have made just about every headline all across the country, for the Midwest... All that is now moving east, but how bad will it actually hit? Well it seems north of Philly will dodge the majority of the very severe stuff, however south of Philly may not be so lucky... DC into Virginia the threat for large hail, strong winds, and even isolated tornado's are set for tomorrow... Starting late tonight heavy rain and rumbles of thunder will effect most of the Northeast, but tomorrow it will split into two pieces, not literally speaking... North of Philly- Showers in the morning and into the afternoon with rumbles of thunder... After 3 pm, expect bands of rain and bands of storms to take place with a couple severe ones... Some small hail, gusty winds, and heavy rain can be expected, but at this point tornado's are not likely... South of Philly- Showers in the morning changing over to bands of strong thunderstorms with large hail, strong gusty winds, and tornado's possible... After 8 pm, we should all be clear of storms, but until then, be on the look out...

Part 3:

Just shortly, After this small severe weather outbreak, the weekend and early week should be very nice and quite with temps back close to spring time!!!! Finally, after having temps in the 40's and even some isolated 30's for some... But not to worry, because spring will be back on track with sunshine and 70 degree weather lasting into Monday before another threat of storms take place mid-week...

Part 4:

I hope everyone is enjoying the nice day we had today all across Westport, because it may not last... As we head into Mid-night, and the hours after, the possibility for a band of soaking rain with a couple rumbles of thunder to come through between 12 am and 4 am... Remaining cloudy during the morning commute, the temperatures will be back into the 70's tomorrow with occasional peaks of sunshine!!!! After the morning commute, showers should pick up again but more scattered with more thunder and even some lightning... It seems a band of storms will enter the area after 3 pm with maybe some severe weather involved... Some of these storms will contain heavy rain, stronger winds (25-50 mph, higher gusts) and maybe some small hail... It seems though, the worst of the storm will remain off to the south... These storms will last into your evening commute, but should be all set and done by 8 pm... The rest of the night seems to be quiet with temps warm for overnight lows... Saturday looks to be very nice!!!!

-Scott Pecoriello

Wild about Weather just got that more WILD!!!

Weather Forecast:
Part 1: SNOW?!?!?!
Part 2: Rain on the way...
Part 3: What about severe weather?
Part 4: Westport Weather...

Part 1:

How often do you here the word SNOW in may?!?!?! Believe it or not, it's not un-heard of... In fact, this is the second time this month where snow has been recorded in PA!!!! Today temperatures were in the lower 50's for most of the region, with the exception of PA, the mountains, and to the north where highs were only in the 40's and even some 30's, and lows hit the 20's and teens!!!! Lot's of record breaking lows, but snow?!?!?! Well areas like Cresson PA woke this morning to snow, and by around 12 pm, 2 inches of it!!!!! This certainly caught my attention, take a look at some of the pictures taken out of the Cresson Summit area...





Part 2:

If it's not raining already, it will begin by 9 tonight at the latest... Starting out light, the rain will gradually increase until its a steady rain by midnight tonight... Slowly, from west to east, the rain will taper and will be gone by sun down tomorrow... Not too much to worry about with this storm, generally no flooding, no lighting or thunder, and no real wind... Just a cold nasty, and at times moderate to heavy rain...

Part 3:

Severe weather? Looks like we'll stay clear of any severe weather until at least Thursday... Now Thursday night, light rain will move into the area with some bands of heavier rain, until Friday where things may get severe... As of now, it looks like we won't have to much severe weather on Friday other than some rumbles of thunder and a couple of downpours, but that could all change in a hurry... There may be an outbreak to the western portion of the area, closer to the Midwest, which may be able to carry over all the way to the big cities sometime on Friday... We don't know too much on the topic right now, but will keep you updated as time gets closer...

Part 4:

A nasty, cold, and cloudy day today will slowly change to a wet, cold, and nasty day tonight and into tomorrow... The rain looks to begin at 6ish or 7ish with a couple of sprinkles earlier on... The rain wont become steady until after 8... expect showers throughout tomorrow with the worst being in the morning... finally clearing later tomorrow night, will some showers possible later in the day on Thursday... We're currently watching the possibility for severe weather on Friday...

-Scott Pecoriello

BREAKING NEWS FOR WESTPORT CT... VERY IMPORTANT....

I just need to do an extremely quick update on Westport, CT, because something big may take place within a couple hours or less... You may have noticed dark clouds building, but scattered all over the area... A severe Thunderstorm watch is in effect for our area... I want to get really specific with one storm that i am watching... There about 10-20 different thunderstorms scattered about... There is only one though that looks like it is going to make a direct hit on Westport... We're talking about the next 30 minutes to 2 hours for when this storm hits the area... Within this one super cell, heavy rain with winds gusting up to 60 mph, and even some small hail may be possible... Tornado's do not look likely at this point with this super cell storm... I expect a severe thunderstorm warning to be placed in effect, but it may not be... So from around 4:15-6:00 PM, somewhere in that time frame, the storm will hit... Be careful, and try to stay in during that time frame...

Oil Spill... Severe weather takes over... Warm air sticks around for a while, even with a cold front...

Weather Forecast:
Part 1: Oil Spill (must see)
Part 2: First severe weather of the season for some...
Part 3: Warm air tries to take a break but can't... When will it end?

Part 1:

For those of you who do not know me very well, I am definitely not a person who looks at the good sides of situations... In fact, often times a look at the worst possible senereo's of situations, and this is one of those situations... It is very hard to find a good side, or a good affect, of this Oil Spill, which has become, in my opinion, a world wide issue, or will become... You also have to think, how is this going to affect the weather... Well, no real articles that I know of have really talked about the oil spills affect on the weather; rather they have been talking about the weathers affect on the oil spill! Just want to briefly touch up on the weathers affect on this oil spill, and its not complicated... If there is bad weather, for example thunderstorms, its going to delay the efforts to try to fix this problem over the gulf... Not hard to understand... But what is more comlicated, is the Oils affect on the Weather... To understand this we need to go way back to the water cycle... It starts out with evaporation, then condensation, and lastly precipitation... So what happens when Oil is in the water? Well when it comes time for evaporation to take place, and there's oil in the water, its pretty clear to see what is probably going to happen next... Now this of course is again, a worse case scenario... So, oil in the water gets evaporated, then gets condensed... And finally, the worst part, is the oil gets precipitated!!!! I would think that this oil could travel miles and miles over land, and over seas, and over cities, and into forests and etc., etc., etc... There is a list of probably over 100 problems that could take place because of this... Now, i guess we're lucky that although this is a lot of oil to be in water, the oil is in a generally together section of the Gulf... But oil is continuing to leak... So what happens next? Well its hard to tell... I really wish some of the experts would check out this hypothesis and test if its possible... Now, these thunderstorms developing in the gulf are moving north toward the Northeast... Maybe tomorrow if it rains, i will try to collect some of the rain water and measure to see if there is any oil in the water... It will be hard to do, but i may as well try!!!!

Part 2:

Just because it is getting late i am going to make this as quick as possible... Severe weather producing tornado's and damaging storms across southern sections is now heading north pretty quickly... In fact, some of the storms should be here by later tonight and into mid-morning tomorrow... Although it is not likely these storms will still be producing tornado's, small hail and damaging winds are possible along with maybe, just maybe some isolated tornado's... We'll have to see, but the worst of it for the Northeast will probably be sometime after midnight tonight, and into around 8 or 9 am tomorrow morning... The best chance of having these severe storms will probably be across the western half of Virginia, Central PA, Southeastern NY, Northern NJ, CT, and into parts of MA... So look out for those storms mainly while we're all asleep, but still possible in the morning, with clearing during the afternoon...

Part 3:

Today lots of 80's and even 90's were popping up all over the map!!!! Tomorrow a cold front will work its way through, but will barely do anything!!! Temperatures will only drop maybe 5 to at the most 10 degrees... But it will actually be a good thing, because temperatures will be comfortable in the mid 70's!!! then a warm front comes through once again for Thursday with temps maybe even higher then today!!!! But that's where it looks to come to an end, because by time the weekend comes around, temps will be back to the mid 60's...

-Scott Pecoriello