The big weather story this week was Tropical Storm Fay. My friend Sam, a resident of Boca Raton, FL, has contributed to my blog this week. The following is an account of the storm in his own words.
Tropical Storm Fay formed on Friday August 15, 2008, over land. The television weather people stated that
this could be a threat to South Florida the early part of next week (which was Monday 8/18/08 and lasting through 8/19/08). The storm kept gaining strength, and then got ripped apart over the big mountains of the Dominican Republic, which looked good for us. When it emerged over the open water, we thought it would strengthen and it did (a little). Fay maintained its own until it got near Cuba, where it got its act together and was now a strong tropical storm (with winds of 60 mph). People in my area of Palm Beach County got their necessary supplies (like water, canned goods, batteries, flashlights, etc.) because we are used to land falling tropical systems. On Saturday, my mom and I went to the store to get some supplies just in case the power was knocked out due to Fay potentially becoming a hurricane. Palm Beach County was going to be on the east side of the storm, and that meant rain, wind, possible power outages, etc. I went to grab some supplies and noticed that the store's food shelves were becoming bare because people were preparing just in case. Some good news showed that Fay had slowed down a little, which gave South Florida more time to get supplies and possibly put shutters up (which I did not do because of the fact that it was going to be a tropical storm). On Sunday, my mom and I went to BJs (a wholesale store like Costco and Sam's Club) to get more supplies. While I was in BJs, I went to get some water for my dad and I got one of the last cases of bottled water for him. On Monday the day went as it usually would then around 9 a.m., the rain began to fall (with little or no wind at all). It was definitely bad on the roadways, due to the slickness of oil and the rain combined. I had to drive on I-95 to Boynton Beach and the rain was so bad that sometimes I could not see 2 feet in front of me, so I drove at a speed of 40 to 60 miles per hour (60 when it was not raining hard). Monday night, the weather went downhill and the wind and rain picked up. During the night, there were a lot of tornado warnings that were detected by Doppler Radar. 3 of the tornado warnings did produce tornadoes and there were also reports of damage in Wellington, Stuart, and Fort Pierce, FL. The next day (Tuesday 8/19/08), the weather was still the same throughout the morning. As the afternoon wore on, the rain began to settle down but the winds were still blowing as strong as they did the night before. Fay made 2 landfalls (one in Key West and one just south of Marco Island). Some of the rainfall totals in Boca Raton are between 6 to 10 inches. I was able to take a couple of pictures of what Fay was doing, including a halo around the moon (about a couple of days before we started to see rain and winds begin). The wind and rain will hopefully begin to settle down, so that the rest of the week the weather will be back to summertime afternoon thunderstorms. The rain from Fay will hopefully help Lake Okeechobee get back to normal levels (of about 15 feet; it now sits at just over 11 feet). Fay is basically a wake up call to Florida, that even though we had Hurricane Wilma about 2 years ago, we can still get a tropical storm. Enjoy the pictures of Fay, sorry I could not get pictures of damage around my house because there was no damage to report.
Thanks Sam! His pictures are below. I am glad there was no damage to report in your neighborhood; unfortunately some other parts of the state did receive damage from winds and flooding.
Now on to this weekend's racing forecasts:
IndyCar Series - Infineon Raceway, Sunday (8/24) at 5:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2. Qualifying is Saturday. It's shaping up to be a beautiful weekend in wine country as high pressure builds in. Plenty of sunshine is expected on Saturday for qualifying with a high near 87. Sunday will be the same - abundant sunshine with temperatures climbing into the upper 80's. The temperature at race time will be near 88 degrees.
American Le Mans Series - Mosport International Raceway, Sunday (8/24) at 3:05 p.m. ET on SPEED. Qualifying is Saturday. High pressure over the region will shift east over the weekend, allowing the next system to progress eastward. Saturday will feature a mix of sun and clouds. The temperature will be pleasant near 82. On Sunday, a cold front will advance toward the area bringing clouds and the possibility of some scattered showers or thunderstorms. The temperature at race time will be around 79 degrees.
NASCAR Nationwide Series - Bristol Motor Speedway, Friday (8/22) at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. High pressure dominating the east will bring great conditions for racing this weekend in Bristol. Expect plenty of sunshine on Friday with an afternoon high near 88. At race time, the temperature will be near 83.
NASCAR Sprint Cup - Bristol Motor Speedway, Saturday (8/23) at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN. Qualifying is Friday afternoon. Saturday will be sunny and warm with a few afternoon clouds. Qualifying on Friday looks great as well. The high on Saturday will be near 87. At the start of the race, the temperature will be near 84.
Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series - Infineon Raceway, Saturday (8/23) at 3 p.m. PT, airing on SPEED Sunday at Noon ET. Conditions will be splendid in northern California for the race on Saturday. Plenty of sunshine with a temperature near 87 degrees.
Winchester Speedway - Saturday night (8/23), gates open at 4:30 p.m., racing starts at 7 p.m. High pressure moving away to the east will allow for some clouds to builid in this weekend. Saturday will have sunshine along with a few clouds. The high will be near 82, and when racing starts the temperature will be near 79.
Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart, and Dave Blaney were all in my hometown of Mechanicsburg, PA racing at Williams Grove Speedway on Tuesday. My aunt, uncle, and cousin attended the dirt track race, and they sent me some photos.
Be sure to listen to Sirius Satellite Radio - Sirius Speedway Channel 128 Thursday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. to hear me give the NASCAR forecast.
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