Tropical Storm Nicole

September 29, 2010



MIAMI — Tropical Storm Nicole has formed over Cuba after soaking the country with downpours as a tropical depression. The storm has maximum sustained winds Wednesday near 40 mph (65 kph) with little change in strength expected. Tropical storm warnings and watches that had been in effect for South Florida   have been canceled. Tropical storm warnings remain in effect for the Cayman Islands, parts of Cuba and the northwestern and central Bahamas.

Tropical Storm Nicole



This graphic shows an approximate representation of coastal areas under a hurricane warning (red), hurricane watch (pink), tropical storm warning (blue) and tropical storm watch (yellow). The orange circle indicates the current position of the center of the tropical cyclone. The black line, when selected and dots show the National Hurricane Center (NHC) forecast track of the center at the times indicated. The dot indicating the forecast center location will be black if the cyclone is forecast to be tropical and will be white with a black outline if the cyclone is forecast to be extra tropical. If only an L is displayed, then the system is forecast to be a remnant low. The letter inside the dot indicates the NHC's forecast intensity for that time.

Tropical storms have an assigned name.  When the maximum sustained winds reach 119 km per hr (74mph) or higher, the storm is officially designated a hurricane.  I haven’t had the chance to be in an actual tropical storm, but as I have heard and read it’s really devastated when the storm reaches high levels of water. 

Thunderstorm Hazards-Hail

Hail is precipitation that is formed when updrafts in thunderstorms carry raindrops upward into extremely cold areas of the atmosphere. Hail can damage aircraft, homes and cars, and can be deadly to livestock and people.  Hailstones grow by collision with supercooled water drops. (Supercooled drops are liquid drops surrounded by air that is below freezing which is a common occurrence in thunderstorms.) There are two methods by which the hailstone grows, wet growth and dry growth, and which produce the "layered look" of hail. 

 

This rain-free region is produced by the updraft and is what suspends rain and hail aloft producing the strong radar echo.

1. The hail nucleus, buoyed by the updraft is carried aloft by the updraft and begins to grow in size as it collides with supercooler raindrops and other small pieces of hail.
   
2. Sometimes the hailstone is blown out of the main updraft and begins to falls to the earth.
   
3. If the updraft is strong enough it will move the hailstone back into the cloud where it once again collides with water and hail and grows. This process may be repeated several times.
   
4. In all cases, when the hailstone can no longer be supported by the updraft it falls to the earth. The stronger the updraft, the larger the hailstones that can be produced by the thunderstorm.



I have been in a hail thunderstorm before when my family and I went to Colorado for a family vacation when I was 15 years old.  The thunderstorm was so surreal because it was something that my family and I wouldn’t imagine.  I remember telling my dad to drive back and that I wanted to go home.  I was so afraid that the ice was going to crack our car window.  As far my hail experiences that I have had here in Arizona, there hasn’t been one that I can compare to the one in Colorado.