… so let’s talk about Ike!
With Hanna zooming past the east coast, we can turn our eyes to the next possible rainmaker - Hurricane Ike.
Hurricane Ike is a category 3 hurricane as of this writing, and early tracking suggests it might thread the needle between Florida and Cuba and come up the west coast of Florida.
On that track, it could very easily end up bringing Georgia some much needed rain. Alternatively, if it follows Hanna but as a larger storm, it could at least brush Georgia.
In any case, Ike is the next big system in the area - what are your thoughts?
Tags: Hanna, hurricane, ike, tropical storm
September 8th, 2008 at 7:48 am
The current long range model (GFS) has Ike plowing up through the panhandle and right over our area around Tues of next week. This keeps changing day by day, but cross your fingser that we get dumped on via Ike as a tropical storm, which would help fill up our lakes.
With all these tropical systems this year you would think that at least one would traverse north Georgia. This has been a frustrating year - all the rain just avoids our area.
September 8th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Sadly, the newer model runs push Ike closer to the Texas coastline now - and I fear that the system will ride up and over us again, missing our area.
Luckily these tracks are not accurate this far out (after 5 days).
We badly need a tropical system to give us rain this time of year. We’re still in drought conditions.
September 9th, 2008 at 5:33 am
Sadly?
This is a major hurricane leaving death and destruction in its wake.
You people need to wake up.
C.Little - contributing more than “Dissapointed” since 1973.
BGAAWKK
September 9th, 2008 at 7:28 am
Anyhow…
The good news is that we have a lot of tropical advection over our area which means a good chance of thunderstorms and showers in our forecast - a very wet pattern - for much of the forecast period.
The other good news is that Ike may miss major metropolitan areas.
September 9th, 2008 at 8:10 am
Chickenidiot,
Weatherman did not say it was sad that a Hurricane would not be arriving to kill people. His statement clearly implied that we would, sadly, not be receiving the benefit of rain from the system.
Thanks for your self-important pronouncement that we need to wake up.
Another of your “contributions” to this board?
Why do you come here? No one wants your “contributions.” You’re not changing anyone’s opinions or educating anyone. You’re not providing any information or reality.
Classic troll . . . come to a board, insult the users and bask in the retaliation because it’s the only human interaction you can get. What do you have in common with all other trolls? Immaturity. Loneliness.
“I look at all the lonely people . . . “
September 10th, 2008 at 8:04 am
Sensitive anyone?
With the low lake levels, low soil moisture levels, low stream flows, etc., how much additional rain would it take to actually “kill” the drought? It seems average rainfall, or even bouts of heavy rainfall, won’t ever be enough. Are we stuck with a watering ban in perpetuity?
September 10th, 2008 at 9:46 am
I believe that most lake/reservoir levels are back to normal. Lanier is the main exception.
September 10th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Well, looks like Ike is going to miss us (topic of this thread). But, we’re supposed to get lots of rain this week.
It’s too bad that talk of long-term solutions has virtually ended since last summer.
Anyone done any models which project the carrying capacity (in terms of water needed) of North Georgia based on X number of people? I know there are population projections, but are there tables that show the water usage per person for the state (would include home and what their consumer needs generate commercially) and what the state’s capacity is?
September 11th, 2008 at 7:57 am
Hey Disapointed - don’t get so bowed up about c.l. This is a public forum and it is expected that there will be some highly educated opinions expressed along with some stupid, or pointless ones. If C.L.’s opinions often seem pointless, it doesn’t degrade the rest of the forum, nor should Mickey remove them. If he did, then should he start removing opinions that he didn’t agree with?
And I will say that c.l. is not entirely pointless. He has one point which is made ad-nauseum. That we are not in a crisis. It is a legitimate point. I might argue against it but I won’t say it’s not legitimate particularly when you remember the early days of this forum when we thought dead pool might spell a doomsday scenario for Atlanta. Even just a few months ago, we had “predictions” on this site that Lanier would hit dead pool this year. I think someone was even saying ten or twenty feet below dead pool. Maybe C.L. is a balance to those doomsayers even if his posts may be pointless sometimes.
September 12th, 2008 at 8:25 am
Josephine has reformed as a big tropical rainstorm. If it continues and goes to the Northwest there might be some rain for your area.
Looks like Ike will still be raining next week over the East coast but well to the North of Georgia.
September 12th, 2008 at 8:29 am
Ike actually looks to dump 6″ of rain in St. Louis again.
It’s a sad state when we’re getting more tropical storms than you are.
September 12th, 2008 at 10:59 am
I have a question? How many of you that come to this site retain rain water at their homes. I stopped counting mid July at 5,400 gals. for my system.
September 12th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Our lawn isn’t hurting for water with the rain we’re getting in southern Cobb county, and we don’t have a garden at this point in time. I’ve been looking at rain barrels for future garden and/or soak hose use, though.
September 12th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
I use rain barrels, and even when combined with collected A/C and dehumidifier condensate, it isn’t enough to resurrect my yard from the sad state it was in when we bought the house in January.
September 12th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
I thought this spring i would try something new and bought three 250 gal barrels and hooked them up too half the gutters on my house. I can hold almost 800 gals and even a small rain gives me at the very least 3-400 gals. I was blown away at how much water i can retain from a small pop up storm. The 50 gal are a waste of time. I had a old pool pump laying around and hooked that up to my hose and have great pressure. If you wanted to you could splice it into you sprinkler line. It’s my way of saving Lake Lanier.
September 12th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
I have a 2500 gallon tank fed by my gutters and a small French drain in my back yard. The tank fills with about 1 inch of rain! It filled a couple of weeks ago, of course, when we got about 4 inches of rain. It’s half full now. And my gardens are looking pretty good.
September 14th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
Can some of you collecting rainwater give us any cost info, including installation? Thanks.
September 14th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
Ike overwhelmed St. Louis’ sewer systems and caused flash flooding in places that never had that problem before.
Including my home. Our entire complex got drowned. We were lucky with only 4 inches of water in the first floor. Cars in the back lot got submerged. Our cars were in the front - on a little island. You’d think it was thinking ahead, but just good luck we parked high up.
Daaaaamn. These tropical storms suck. I live in the middle of the goddamn country. We shouldn’t be being flooded out by Ike.
September 15th, 2008 at 1:31 am
rkolter,
It is because of Atlanta that you are being flooded out, now on a regular basis. The existence of the urban sprawl of Atlanta has created a gigantic heat island that has altered weather patterns. In a few years, the entire American southeast will shift to a desert climate. Perhaps less than one tenth of the present population will be able to survive in the region. Everyone else will have to move or die.
Atlanta must begin planting roof gardens on EVERY flat roof in the area. Parking lots MUST be covered with hanging vines, and all asphalt must be converted to water absorbent asphalt. We have it in Japan. Using it reduces surface temperature 14 degrees Centigrade.
These measures will help insignificantly reducing the temperature of the Atlanta urban area, and the heat island, and thusly the drought.
But the entire American southeast is nearing a tipping point. Your forests are used to heavy rainfall, and they are drying out. Once they burn, the region is gone.
And if you think I am just squawking, go google up the track of Tropical storm Fay. It should have hit Atlanta dead on. Instead it took a very weird course. I do not know tropical storms to take such a weird course, it turned 90 degrees. The Atlanta heat island pushed it off.
Tropical storms and hurricanes are chance events, they will not save you. You must restore normal rainfall patterns. As long as the Atlanta heat island emits heat, this will not happen and your region will turn to uninhabitable desert in a very few short years.
September 15th, 2008 at 9:30 am
Can some of you collecting rainwater give us any cost info, including installation? Thanks.
I decided to try at least something. So I started cheap with 45.00 tanks (250 gal ea), PVC fittings 75.00, old pool pump. If your any good with your hands you will find it’s childs play. Now I’m seeing that it’s the amount of storage that makes the differance. But at least try to start some with lets say 2ea. 250 gal tanks and a down spout or two. Also my A/C unit puts in 25 plus gals in 5 days. You’ll find you can get a lot of water in a short period of time that will last for one, maybe two weeks. My system has paid for itself this summer. I moved 35 trees and bushes and watered every other day all summer.
Linda, what type of tank do you have? Where did you get it? I’m ready to expand.
September 15th, 2008 at 11:46 am
My cistern is the black plastic above-ground variety, seen all over Crete and probably other places in Europe. I’m told the technology comes from Australia. I did a lot of interviewing before choosing an installer. Didn’t want to be a beta tester. Unfortunately, I just ended up with the guy who was the best salesman and BS-er. I know of no company in Atlanta that specializes in rainwater recovery that can be recommended at the present time. It seems to be one of those “wild west” scenarios where the only guys moving into the business so far are people who weren’t tied down (e.g. gainfully employed elsewhere). Everyone I’ve run into, and especially the guy that installed my system, is a crook. Shoddy installation, doesn’t honor warranties or service contracts. I’m not naming names for obvious reasons. However, if you would like more information or to see my system (I’m in Decatur), send me an email at bashful_daisy@yahoo.com.
Now the good news. I’ve spoken with reputable landscapers in Atlanta and they are getting interested in doing projects like this in addition to their normal landscaping projects. If I had it to do over again, I would have waited a year until someone really solid got going on rainwater recovery. Also, the guys who have reworked my system so that it is now working beautifully are starting their company. When they get that going, I’ll post their contact information here, if that’s OK. I can certainly recommend them!
September 15th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Sorry you had to go through all that. I checked out a few sites learned a few things and invented the rest. Your right no one here really knows how to put one together it’s mostly off shore. Except the key west group. They have been saving rain water for decades. Thanks for helping save Lake Lanier!
September 15th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
In Japan where I live, we have just had summer of torrential thunderstorms. I first came here 35 years ago, thunderstorms barely existed. Now we have some areas getting 150 mm of rain an hour.
We are getting massive flash floods, property is damaged, people are dying.
In Japan, people understand the relationship between Global Warming and extreme weather events. Tokyo’s urban heat island is not totally responsible for the weather in our area, but it does contribute.
Both government and private industry are getting into the act. Roof gardens are being actively promoted. Last night I saw a TV news presentation about a company that has invented a heat reflecting paint. Two schoolyards with asphalt exercise yards were compared.
Both were exposed to the summer sun. The one with normal paint had a surface temperature of 60 degrees Centigrade. There is no way that one could walk barefoot on that surface. The one treated with the special paint had a surface temperature of 40 degrees Centigrade, the kids could comfortably do their exercises barefoot.
This paint also has a significant effect on buildings when applied to building roofs.
In Japan, we are making efforts to deal with the root causes of warming, and using such devices as heat reflecting paint and roof gardens does a lot to lower electric bills.
So when are Americans going to wake up?
September 15th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
American builders won’t wake up until there is some sort of profit to be made in building green structures. That’s one price we pay for having an economy largely driven by corporate interests.
September 16th, 2008 at 8:31 am
Max - Atlanta is a very green city. As in there are plenty of trees and undeveloped areas. Atlanta is not Tokyo. It’s not New York. It’s just Atlanta. As a matter of fact, I would say just from personal observation that Atlanta is considerably greener than St. Louis. I don’t see them hurting for rain. Honestly I think you are just using this forum to slam the U.S. because you don’t think we are “green” enough. I recomend you go away and post on some socialist blog and quit slamming my country. Or better yet, just shut up.
September 16th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
Max von Schuler-Kobayashi, sounds like you understand and have a handle on what needs to change to be green. From the sounds of your post we are in the dark ages. Please list all the things you’ve done at home to change the problems you are contributing to living here? Is your drive way painted? Tell us how you made a garden on your roof? Do you collect rain water? Solar panels? So……..are you still dreaming or have you woken up? We in America have to pay to be green, it’s not arranged by our goverment to do so.
September 16th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
Let us learn from facts. There is a massive drought in the south east. It is swinging rain away from it, and into the Mississippi valley. That is why St. Louis is so wet.
Atlanta may be green, but not enough. In Japan, people are becoming more and more green conscious, and the effort is being led by the private business sector, because our government is incompetent. We have no had national leader, a Prime Minister for some two weeks. he quit because the opposition party would not cooperate.
Anyway.
I rent my house, I have no right to apply paint to my roof. It is two feet to the street from my door. In Japan,we have an over abundance of rainwater, at least in Tokyo where I live. There are some sections of Western Japan in serious drought.
I do have many influential business friends in Tokyo, and my views are listened to. And I agree Don, I think government should stop things that are wasting money, and pay for such infrastructure. If there is any government money left after the waste of the Iraq war and the present financial crisis. But I will see who I can talk to.
I do think that the greatest problems facing the US are a declining world oil supply, and drastic climate change. And I think that Atlanta is the front line where effort in the next year or two will stave off regional disaster. Possibly. Remember, last year the Okeefenokee swamp caught fire. Swamps on fire are real bad sign.
I don’t think anything can be done about the US southwest, they were desert to begin with. Their problem is that too many people moved there, the water structure cannot support them.
And why do you assume that when I say the US has a serious problem in the southeastern drought that I am “slamming” the US? And what has that got to do with socialism?
September 16th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
Really, I think Max has his points, and from reading his posts I think he has fair knowledge of what is going on in the US. I’m sure he knows more about the US then you guys know about Japan. Maybe he is making it a little dramatic but city greening is really important, and from my experience most south east Asia countries do a better job in city greening overall, although I do agree that Atlanta is much greener than other big cities in the US.
Chicken Little’s posts getting deleted because he is not as serious as rest of people and Max getting flamed because he has different opinion and different background. Come on people. Oh and I wonder how socialism come into play as well, actually I wonder who is more socialist here.
I have been silently reading this blog for a long time, and it’s the first time I feel something is not right here.
Anyway, calm down people, and after all it should be a pleasure to see people have different opinions.
September 16th, 2008 at 9:48 pm
I’ve about quit trying to post here. Most of my posts get deleted before they post, but I just had to try one more time. The statement was made above that fires in swamps are a bad sign. Not so. Fire is a natural and necessary part of the Okeefenokee Swamp ecology. See http://www.fws.gov/okefenokee/fire.htm
One more comment to get back on topic: It’s a good thing Ike didn’t come to Georgia. It’s been causing a lot of damage in the Midwest.
September 17th, 2008 at 7:40 am
I like Japan they seem to have their act together. But to compare America to Japan not possible. With the millions of people in such a confined area, yes you need to do something anything to stop the heat island effect. Climate change can not be fixed we have no control to stave it off. Even if we could there are too many country’s that will do nothing but create more. We as a world are running out of oil, water, space, with a population out of control. to think some paint and plants will solve our problems is childish. All country’s are to blame all of the population, not just America, is too blame including Japan.
Lake Lanier needs help now with everyone pitching in, not finger pointing. How can people help? By collecting rain water to be used instead of lake water. Renting or not this is where it starts. Grow a garden water it with rain water now your not adding to green house gasses by having your vegetables trucked in. Plant some trees and bushes water those with rain water the land lord i’m sure would approve and your helping the cause. I’m not an enviromentalist I see a problem and found a solution to not add to Laniers problems. I’m on this site to see if anyone else cares enough to share some solutions.
September 17th, 2008 at 8:45 am
“And why do you assume that when I say the US has a serious problem in the southeastern drought that I am “slamming” the US?”
“So when are Americans going to wake up?”
September 17th, 2008 at 9:01 am
The southeastern drought is serious, your not slamming the U.S.
80% of American’s will never wake up, their waiting for someone else to fix it.
September 17th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
First - drawing long term environmental conclusions based on two years of drought is statistically meaningless.
Second - I find it highly unlikely that we are seeing a climate change which steers rain away from Atlanta but makes the midwest wetter. Again - this idea is based on such a short period of time that it is statistically meaningless.
Third - I find it again highly unlikely that the smallish heat island that Atlanta generates is disrupting weather patterns 100 miles north of Atlanta (but didn’t ten years ago even though the size of the city hasn’t really changed.)
Fourth - I find it annoying enough when Americans slam their own country. I have no patience for listening to foreigners do it. As far as I know, Japan is a fine place. I’m not slamming Max’s country & won’t silently abide his slamming mine. If a foreigner on this forum wants to talk badly about the U.S. I’m going to flame him. Nuff said.
September 17th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Just for clarification of point 3 above, our main problem that this forum is discussing is the low levels of lake Lanier. The watershed area of lake Lanier is well north of the city of Atlanta. 100 miles is an estimation of the distance from the center of Atlanta to the center of the Lanier watershed.
September 19th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
I am an American citizen Rich. But I really have three countries, Germany, America and Japan. Most people outside the US regard a passport as piece of paper for ease of international travel, not much more.
But questions such as those really belong on another type of forum. My primary reason for coming here was that, people in Japan will ask me if I warned people in Atlanta of my findings. And they will ask what was the response of the Americans?
You may say that you don’t care what people in Japan think. Well right now Tokyo among other capitals is being asked to help bail America out of it’s financial mess.
I do write in Japanese in Japan on environmental issues. What if the Japanese government looks at the climatic situation and hesitates to give more money.
I first learned about the Atlanta heat island some two years ago, it received 20 minutes on one of our top four news shows. So people in Japan are quite conscious of it.
America does need help. And Japanese people do have affection for America. But Japanese people regard American environmental problems as much more serious than sending armies overseas. It is climate collapse that has the attention of people here in Japan. And Europe, China and Russia.
I fail to see how expressing concern about the future of America is an insult, or slamming as it has been put.
But I starting posting here to try to raise awareness in America of the seriousness of the problem. Tokyo is already quite aware of it.
September 21st, 2008 at 6:54 am
I thought we were talking about Ike?
Max Von USA Hater gets to come in here and post his bitter vitriole, while you continue to delete the contributions of a valuable long time poster.
BGAWWKKK
(I’M BACK WITH A VENGEANCE)
September 21st, 2008 at 8:54 am
Max - Point me to some evidence of your Atlanta heat island theory. I am willing to listen if you stop making statements like “So when are Americans going to wake up?”
I know only a little about heat islands but I do know something about Atlanta. I know Atlanta has more green space than pretty much any other city I have visited. I also know the “city” of Atlanta (as opposed to the suburbs) hasn’t grown that much in the last 20 years.
Therefore I would say it is logical that Atlanta’s heat signature has nothing to do with this recent drought. Furthermore, I would say it is absolutely ridiculous to blame Atlanta for the flooding in the midwest. How about some evidence of that one while you are at it??
September 21st, 2008 at 10:36 am
From http://science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/essd26apr99_1.htm
“Urban growth has transformed Atlanta’s environment, creating a uniquely altered arena of weather. Because urban areas both generate and trap heat, a bubble or “urban heat island” forms around the city. The temperature in Atlanta is 5 to 8 degrees Fahrenheit higher than outlying areas, and this excess heat produces increased rainfall and thunderstorms.”
Note they say “increased rainfall.”
September 22nd, 2008 at 7:23 am
The heat island effect is seen every single time a t-storm comes from the west and breaks up in the center as it comes over the city. If you disagree than you don’t pay attention.
September 22nd, 2008 at 10:33 am
Max Von SK - point well taken over your concern. However, I think the point some are making is that the current water situation here is not the result of climate change or the urban heat island effect. The people here are citing experience with the Atlanta climate going back 70 or 80 years. A - the temperature here isn’t rising, rather it is moderating. B - the region is experiencing a drought that seems to occur every 25 years or so. This time it is a little more severe than normal, and has lasted a little longer. But it happens periodically regardless of the size of Atlanta. C - most of the region’s reservoirs are full, with the exception of those fed by extreme northeast Georgia basins. While the Atlanta area has had pretty consistent rain this summer and this year as a whole, that northeast Georgia area, and the adjoining regions of North Carolina and South Carolina, have been extremely dry this year. D - despite the drought, Lanier’s level would be at a tolerable level if not for some ridiculous water policy decisions last year that resulted, for example, in the lake level decreasing by three feet last September while we continued to feed more than adequate amounts of water downstream.
We’re plenty concerned about our environment here in Atlanta and the country as whole, for that matter. But there is some hesitancy to link long term environmental issues with the current drought.
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:40 am
y’all buy one of my new “DEAD POOL” t-shirts
special size run for Water “Shortage” bloggers - XL, XXL, and Tarpaulin
bee to the gee to the aye to the dubya kay!
September 24th, 2008 at 5:43 am
I just purchased “Carol’s” house for pennies on the dollar out of foreclosure.
Turns out it wasn’t the dead pool she was afraid of - it was her adjustable mortgage!
BGAWK
September 25th, 2008 at 7:35 am
“Anyway, calm down people, and after all it should be a pleasure to see people have different opinions.”
Sorry, but you are off the mark.
Chicken Little’s posts are not opinions or specific contributions to this blog; they are infantile insults that sometimes make this board a factual waste of time.
I check in to the front page, see that the number of posts have been updated, then take the time to click and scroll down, only to find ANOTHER, useless, juvenile comment allowed by the moderator, who actually feels guilty deleting this troll’s garbage. Why?
If Chicken Little came to an Atlanta Braves blog and said he thought Chipper Jones was being paid too much, based on his batting average or on-base percentage, etc., that’s one thing. Incessantly posting, “Braves Suck! Phillies Rule!” should get him permanently kicked off.
Was this board really set up as a place for Lonely Hearts to insult the people they feel don’t like them? Or to flirt with the virtual friends they can’t make in real life?
It was nice to be able to ask a question about rainwater collection and get some answers. Max’s posts and the responses (both pro and con) are interesting.
Chicken Little’s non-stop, “You’re all losers. I’m smarter than you. My repetitive ‘contribution’ to this board is to say that, in fact, there is no drought,” garbage is a disservice to this community.
Socialism? Let’s get a little full of ourselves, why don’t we?
NO ONE is saying that posters can’t have diverse opinions here. But allowing slogans, insults, and other nonsensical crap that provides no one any information because some loser wants attention does NOT further this board.
September 25th, 2008 at 8:41 am
I personally like The Chicken. Free range is better than factory farm. What does this blog accomplish? Does it solve the fundamental problem and bring more rain or change people’s behavior to conserve natural resources? No. Black humor at least is funny! “Tarpaulin”…classic!
September 25th, 2008 at 11:25 am
For those who are interested:
“On October 29, 2008, The Cobb County Board of Commissioners will be hosting the annual Cobb County Development Symposium. The theme for this year’s symposium is “Are We There Yet,” and our program for the day will examine elements of a comprehensive water management strategy.”
http://www.cobbcountyga.gov/symposium/
September 25th, 2008 at 11:29 am
yeah you’re right
I should have joined the chorus of “we’re going to be out of water in 3 weeks!” last fall
BUT LITTLE DOESN’T DRINK THAT KOOL AID
LITTLE BELIEVES THAT REAL AMERICANS HAVE MORE GUMPTION THAN TO LET A MAN MADE RESERVOIR DICTATE THEIR DAY TO DAY ACTIVITIES
BGAWK
and to my loyal fan base, I’ll be appearing at Publix on Northside Drive this Friday at 5:30pm, stop by and say, “BGAWK”!
September 25th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
The moderator and the guests find chicken little refreshing? Shame we could have used a site for sharing ideas and solutions.
September 25th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
Sorry Don, but the site was used to paint doomsday scenarios - water runs out, crime skyrockets, housing prices plummet, disease spreads.
Now, if you don’t have anything to say about Ike, hit the road.
September 25th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
My friend “Ike” recommends that concerned water users on suburban lots adopt the following no cost labor intensive water conservation and food production measures:
1. Reduce the solid waste burden in wastewater.
a. Discontinue garbage disposal use in sinks. All food waste goes in compost piles or in outdoor storage containers with lids. If a storage container is used, when it is filled, it is emptied into a shallow trench, preferably in a vegetable garden, then sprinkled with lime to minimize odor and covered with dirt.
b. Quit using flush toilets at home and recycle human waste as detailed in Joseph Jenkins’ “The Humanure Handbook”.
2. Diminish tap water consumption used solely for landscape watering.
a. Use a 5 gallon bucket when taking a shower to collect water for food production gardens.
b. Wash dishes by hand and save the grey water for gardens. If the kitchen has two sinks side by side, a low form container is used to collect rinse water, which is then emptied into a bucket for disposal into a vegetable garden.
September 25th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
Wanderer, I guess when I typed that sentence I was thinking about Max’s post, and I agree with you on that C.L.’s post probably only has entertaining value. I was just kinda upset that someone spending time sharing his opinion and get flamed because he is a foreigner. I mean, I really don’t think he comes here to slam anyone, but only to raise some awareness of an issue he think exists. He deserves some appreciation in my opinion.
I actually start thinking the heat island thing can be possible. If the city has 5F higher temperature than surrounding area, that is really bad actually. Also, Atlanta area is definitely growing, there is no way a city doesn’t change in 20 years. Plus the traffic here is one of the worst in the country.
Back to C.L., I really don’t find him annoying, maybe because I hang around in car forum too much.
Anyway, I would like to see some heat island information from Max too, just out of curiosity.
September 25th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
Maybe I need to make it clear, when I said in the above post ’someone’ spending time sharing his opinion I was not talking about C.L.. Useful and diverse opinion is what I meant.
I still like C.L.’s post though.
September 26th, 2008 at 5:39 am
“Chicken Little isn’t the problem, Chicken Little is the solution”
BGAWK
September 26th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
Still waiting Max for something scientific that you can point us to…….
Until I see something I will just assume Max is personally contributing to the “heat island” effect by expelling copious hot air while bloviating.
September 26th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
Max is over on the “Atlanta Gas Shortage” blog predicting empty tanks in 37 days. (Carol is complaining how her Hummer is worthless now)
September 28th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
Maybe it’s time for a new thread here? Although Lanier seems to be holding its own, my flower beds aren’t. We haven’t had a drop of rain in Decatur in a month now. This is the longest stretch I can remember. My rainwater recovery system doesn’t do any good when there’s no rainwater to recover. Where are all those tropical storms? It has certainly seemed like every storm has avoided us, although I don’t think that’s data enough for a heat island diagnosis.
September 29th, 2008 at 6:53 am
Unless there is a different Heat Island than the one I’m thinking about, I’m not sure how the heat island that exists around any large city would alter the path of Ike, or how it would trigger a drought covering an area extensively wider than the city itself.
September 29th, 2008 at 7:40 am
Wow, a lot of wild speculation here.
Yes, this drought has gone on longer than usual. However, we go through cycles and droughts, and this will end. The drought still exists but it’s mailnly a small area mostly focused in the mountains and piedmont of SC, with lesser drought into northeast GA and western NC. None of that area is in a “heat island.”
http://drought.unl.edu/dm/DM_southeast.htm
Once this breaks we’ll be back to wet and milder condidtions. This winter should be like last winter…mild, dry, with some cold snaps into the 20s and teens.
http://www.cpc.noaa.gov/products/predictions/long_range/lead02/off02_prcp.gif
According to long range modeling…it’s not until March- Jun that we are back to normal for precip:
http://www.cpc.noaa.gov/products/predictions/long_range/seasonal.php?lead=7.
If that even happens. We’ll have to see.
Global warming is real and there is the possibility that the climate might shift and we’ll be drier, but my hunch is that we’ll get back to wet conditions within the next year.
September 29th, 2008 at 11:18 am
As we know, the “heat island” effect is local, i.e. the size of a city.
The effect from continental land masses is another matter.
Since land heats more rapidly than water, droughts are expected to be more frequent and intense with global warming. Predicting the location of a drought is dicey. However, I would think that since west winds predominate due to the rotation of the Earth, the Southeastern US would be a good candidate for drought as hot dry air from the continent is pushed to the east. Hot, high pressure air resists the influx of moisture.
I believe the computer models also show that dry climates of low to mid latitudes are pushed to higher latitudes with global warming, consistent with the recent droughts seen in Spain, Turkey, Syria, Australia and other countries.
September 30th, 2008 at 9:39 am
I read/heard somewhere years ago that the jet stream or some other regular, climatological air mass is moving northwards, and in a few decades, lower Canada will be the agricultural center of N. America, as our nice, Midwestern climate shifts upward. The South will get the Caribbean’s weather, etc.
Sorry for the lack of technical knowledge here; maybe someone else can get more specific.