There are two general types of operational weather services provided by weather routing companies:
-
Optimum Ship Routing
-
Vessel Performance Monitoring
Optimum Ship Routing (Weather Routing)
Optimum ship routing is the art and science of developing the “best route” for a ship based on the existing weather forecasts, ship characteristics, ocean currents and special cargo requirements. For most transits this will mean the minimum transit time that avoids significant risk to the vessel, crew and cargo. Other routing considerations might include passenger comfort, fuel savings or schedule keeping. The goal is not to avoid all adverse weather but to find the best balance to minimize time of transit and fuel consumption without placing the vessel at risk to weather damage or crew injury. Continue reading →
There are five types of ocean waves:
1. Wind generated
2. Tides
3. Seiches
4. Tsunamis
5. Pressure induced
Continue reading →
Sixty years ago this Christmas Week, began an incredible sea story involving a WWII era cargo vessel named the Flying Enterprise and her captain, Kurt Carlsen.
Flying Enterprise Image Credit Leigh Bishop www.deepimage.co.uk
Continue reading →
I was only 2 years old at the time but still have some hazy distant memory of a storm that may have initiated my interest in meteorology later in life. I was living in Passaic, NJ at the time in an apartment complex called Barry Gardens with my Mom. My Dad, at that time, was a merchant seaman and away from home for extended periods. I can remember being scared of the sound of the howling wind outside that afternoon and the darkness caused by the loss of power that night. That stormy day plus Hurricane Hazel in October of 1954 likely planted the weather bug in my brain.
The November 1950 storm caused widespread flooding and wind damage along the US East Coast while inland areas were coped with heavy snowfalls and very low temperatures. The storm developed over North Carolina then deepened rapidly into an “East Coast Bomb” as it tracked northward into Pennsylvania before turning northwest en-route to Lake Erie and later curving southwest and then east across Ohio. Continue reading →
This is a repost of a blog I wrote a couple years back:
Edmund Fitzgerald - Image Credit NOAA
On November 10, 1975 the Great Lakes bulk cargo vessel
SS Edmund Fitzgerald carrying a cargo of taconite pellets (iron-bearing flint-like rock used in steelmaking) sank with the loss of all 29 crewmembers in eastern Lake Superior about 17 miles from the entrance to Whitefish Bay, Michigan during a severe storm. The vessel sank quickly without sending a distress signal and the story of this tragedy inspired Gordon Lightfoot to write his most famous song:
“Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”. Continue reading →
One of the most significant hurricanes to hit Tampa occurred 90 years ago this month. The first recorded major hurricane to hit Tampa occurred 73 years earlier in September of 1848.
Thomas B Garland Tampa Hurricane 1921
The Chief Hydrographer at the Panama Canal may have reported the first indication of a developing disturbance over the Caribbean Sea between October 13th and 18th when the barometer fell steadily and winds prevailed out of the north with frequent heavy rains, particularly on the Pacific side of the Canal Zone. Suddenly, on Oct. 18th, the winds reversed and blew steadily from the south ending the rain. The wind also picked up after the 18th, averaging nearly 20 mph between the 20th and the 22nd with a peak 5-minute wind speed of 35 mph. Continue reading →
It has been quite a while since a major hurricane has hit the Tampa Bay area but just over 160 years ago two hurricanes hit the Tampa Bay area within about 2 weeks of each other. In 1848 Tampa was a small village of fewer than 200 people, outside of the military garrison locate at Fort Brooke (now down town Tampa). Earlier that year, the county of Hillsborough had appointed Louis Covacevich and Samuel Bishop as the first pilots of the port of Tampa. In May, the lighthouse at Egmont Key started operations and just two weeks before the first hurricane hit, Tampa’s first school opened on September 11th. (1)
This pencil sketch of the Captains' Quarters was drawn by one of the officers stationed at Fort Brooke in 1845. Image Credit - The Tampa Bay History Center
The first of the two storms was probably the most intense hurricane ever to affect Tampa and occurred on Monday, Sept. 25th. It came to be known as “The Great Gale of 48” and was described by survivor, William Henry Whitaker, as “the granddaddy of all hurricanes.” (7) Continue reading →
I was asked to comment on global warming and its impact on health for ““Worcester Medicine” May/June Edition 2011
There has been much press and controversy about global warming – everything from doomsday scenarios to absolute disbelief. As a meteorologist, I suspect the truth is likely somewhere in between those two extremes. Although climatologists and meteorologists debate the merits of global climate change theory, there are some facts that are not disputed by scientists. One of these is that over the past 100-150 years there has been a significant increase of some greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and a definite trend towards warmer temperatures.
Just what are greenhouse gases anyway?
Greenhouse gasses are those gases that allow the atmosphere to retain heat and thus warm the earth’s surface above what it would be from sunlight alone. Sunlight heats the earth’s surface, and that heat is absorbed by gases such as water vapor, carbon dioxide and methane. Without these greenhouse gases the earth’s temperature would be more than 30 degrees Celsius (50ºF) colder than it is now, and our world would likely be a giant snow ball. Continue reading →
The National Snow and Ice Data Center – Sept. 6, 2011
Arctic sea ice extent averaged for August 2011 reached the second lowest level for the month in the 1979 to 2011 satellite record. Both the Northwest Passage and the Northern Sea route appear to be open. Throughout August, sea ice extent tracked near the record lows of 2007, underscoring the continued decline in Arctic ice cover.
Note: Arctic sea ice extent will likely reach its minimum extent for the year sometime in the next two weeks. NSIDC will make a preliminary announcement when ice extent has stopped declining and has increased for several days in a row. Monthly data for September will be released in early October.
Arctic Sea Ice Extent
Full Article
