T.S. Danny and a bit of "green" irony

Tropical Storm Danny was named yesterday morning and is now a storm with 60 mph wind moving northwest across the western Atlantic, northeast of the Bahamas. The storm is not well-organized with the strongest wind well removed northeast of the center of the storm. Current projections indicate that interests from the Outer Banks of N.C. up through New England should keep a close eye on the storm. The latest forecast track, satellite imagery, etc. are posted on the MWN Tropical page.

Elsewhere, I find it a bit ironic that one method of reducing greenhouse emissions in order to supposedly have a positive impact on weather and climate may be causing another weather problem. As reported by the Associated Press ("Wind Farms Can Appear Sinister To The Weatherman"), National Weather Service meteorologists are finding that wind farms that are springing up across the country are affecting the quality of their Doppler radar data. In some cases, the complex computer algorithms that process the radar data are erroneously alerting radar operators to tornadoes over the wind farms! In many cases, wind turbines located within several miles of a Doppler radar are causing poor data quality in the velocity (wind) data that meteorologists use in the detection of hazardous weather. An excellent write-up with examples of the poor radar data can be found on the NWS-Buffalo website.

So, let me get this right... to help offset the effects of "human-induced climate change" and produce clean energy, we build wind farms that subsequently cause false warnings of tornadoes and other potentially bad weather! Obviously, it's up to the radar operators to filter out these false warnings before alerting the public, but the best case may be to shut these turbines down when hazardous weather is affecting the area around the wind farm (besides the fact that this type of interference should be considered before nstalling these turbines). Be sure to read the articles linked above for more info.

Finally, the MWN Forecast will not be updated from Friday through Sunday as I will be out of town participating in my sister's wedding. Have a great weekend!

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