Monday was Labor Day in the United States: the unofficial end of summer. By this time the traditional three week fellesferie (public holiday) in Norway and elsewhere in Europe, and the bouwvak (builders’ vacation) in the Netherlands, are long gone. I see the Dutch newspaper Volkskrant notes that it was not really a pleasant ‘topsomer’ kind of a summer in Europe, with the extreme heat there. I don’t think we can declare 2017 a great summer for North America either, with hurricane Harvey (and another one called Irma – now a Category 5! – churning towards Florida). In California and the Pacific Northwest firefighters are still battling very large wildfires. The smoke is blanketing the entire state, and we are looking to on-shore winds to bring some relief on Wednesday.
This picture from NOAA National Weather Service National Hurricane Center, of Hurricane Irma Heading Toward the Leeward Islands. GOES-16 captured this geocolor image of Hurricane Irma the morning of September 5, 2017. Irma is a potentially catastrophic category 5 hurricane and will bring life-threatening wind, storm surge, and rainfall hazards to portions of the northeastern Leeward Islands beginning later today, and the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico beginning tomorrow (9/6). Created by our partners at the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere, the experimental geocolor imagery enhancement displays geostationary satellite data in different ways depending on whether it is day or night. This image, captured as daylight moves into the area, offers a blend of both, with nighttime features on the left side of the image and daytime on the right.Satellite picture from the National Weather Service with the Washington State outline and cities drawn in. The smoke from the wild fires blanket almost the entire State. (I believe the crisp white fluffs on the left and over the ocean, are clouds).
