Something cooking in the Caribbean?

Check the web for breaking weather updates

It was a dark and stormy night. Really – it was. Hurricane Dean was busily attacking the southern portion of the continent, while three days of rain were providing well-needed moisture to the Garden State. Cable and power were popping on and off, making me glad I’d equipped both my computer systems and the home entertainment area with uninterruptible power supplies.
Just to make the mood, I’d spent a couple of hours watching the “Savage Planet series.” Some probably remember it from PBS a few years back. I was happy to find it on DVD from MPI Home Video and proceeded to scare myself senseless watching the rare live footage of astonishing storms narrated by Stacy Keach. By the time the Princess Victoria went under, I was promising myself to get my house ready for the hurricanes and nor’easters that may threaten this year.
Figuring that forewarned is forearmed, I sought help in discovering when storm activity is heading into the area long enough in advance for me to head for high ground, parrot in tow.
Once my so-called fast Internet connection came back to life, I started to root around in search of good information concerning the 2007 hurricane season, as well as hints on surviving a big storm should our luck run out in 2007. Last year, science predicted 16 storms and not a single hurricane hit the continental United States. Could we be due this year? Check these sites to find out.

www.noaa.org

I remember earlier in the year when the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association predicted a heavy hurricane season for 2007. You can read it here: www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2007/s2864.htm . As things turn out, activity has been a bit light so far, but potentially dangerous storms can start to brew without much notice.
I clicked the NOAA Watch All Hazards Monitor on the homepage and found a complete weather report, along with links to information on major weather issues from all around the country.
Hurricane Dean was out of the picture, but there was plenty of rain to go around, soaking the East Coast and heading across the continent clear into the Southwest. Reports of flash flooding and severe storms dotted the map, making me glad that we had gotten our share already. I managed to escape with nothing worse than driving through a couple of deep puddles.
That was this time. The next big storm could cause problems, especially if it decides to make landfall here in South Jersey. I am not sure if I do it to keep abreast of the weather conditions or if I just like a good scare, but I’ll be keeping track of upcoming storm activity for the rest of the summer. For keeping me on the edge of my seat, www.noaa.org grabs five meteorological spiders.

www.weather.com

Where would we be without the Weather Channel? I checked the website to find its hurricane season countdown ticking away at www.weather.com/newscenter/hurricanecentral/  and was happy to learn that there were just three months left to worry about hurricanes before the snow starts to fall. As my jaw unclenched, I also read that prognosticators had predicted heavy storm activity for the remainder of the season.
The big news on the day I visited was the dissolution of Hurricane Dean, which blew itself out over Mexico. The once mighty storm was little more than a tropical depression, delivering a bit of wind and a good soaking. As Tropical Storm Erin had also died down, we were left to wait for the likes of Felix, Gabrielle and Humberto.
I checked into an informative explanation of the ratings issued to hurricanes as they develop. A visit to www.weather.com/encyclopedia/charts/tropical/saffirscale.html  put the whole thing in perspective by describing wind forces and average damage. Now I’ll know when to tie down the car.
The Weather Channel is a popular TV destination during storms. Its website is equally useful year-round, offering up a wealth of storm-spotting information and weather reports that are occasionally right on the money. For telling me when to wear my hat, www.weather.com  increases spidermetric pressure by five.

www.hurricane.com 

This is the spot for hurricane geeks and wannabes any time there is something cooking in the Caribbean. Hurricane.com is a phenomenal resource of hurricane information, replete with up-to-the-minute news, savvy commentary, and well-based predictions. Its latest report indicated little chance of tropical storm buildup in the warmer waters, clearing me for a weekend jaunt to the islands if I had the money.
Going above and beyond a simple five-line prediction, the hurricane.com website offers insights into exactly how its forecast models work. It provided several news stories concerning the hurricane weather research and forecasting model, or HWRF, which is expected to revolutionize hurricane prediction.
It offers full archives of hurricane and storm information sure to thrill even the casual hurricane fan. True geeks will be able to spend hours poring over the files and looking back at some of the biggest storms in recorded history. Hurricanes Gilbert and Wilma share the honors for the most intense hurricane in recorded history, with 882 millibars of internal pressure, in case you were wondering.
Dark and stormy nights are the perfect time to peruse the site dedicated totally to hurricanes and the people who love them. For do-it-yourselfers, they offer a selection of freeware storm traffic software, including versions for Macintosh, Windows and Linux. It is truly a storm junkie’s paradise. For putting all the information in one place since 1994, www.hurricane.com  wrings out five super-soaked spiders.

I love a good storm myself, as long as it is bedeviling someplace far from me. I am always happy to watch natural disasters on TV and DVD, but I’m a little less enthusiastic when they are hammering my house and car. If you enjoy observing storms or any natural phenomena on the Internet, I’d like to know about your favorite sites. Send your e-mail to granese@juno.com .