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- Bermuda after Bertha
  • From: Keith / bdaweather <bdaweather at yahoo.com>
  • Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2008 13:56:01 -0700 (PDT)
Bermuda Update for Tuesday July 15th 2008  16:00
 
I apologize for not getting this on the net early this morning but the Telephone Company here has some sort of fault were a certain first and second digit of telephone numbers have gone down so even though I have two separate incoming lines both are out of order this outage also affects data and DSL service. So I have had to actually take the laptop to a different location to access primitive dial up or public wireless access to post this message.
 
 
Things are getting back to normal today following the very close pass of Tropical Storm Bertha yesterday. After having gusting winds in the morning of 50mph + the afternoon proved worse with even a Hurricane Watch posted for gusts of hurricane force wind expected after Bertha was visited by one of the weather planes. The storm was found to have hurricane force gusts in some of the squalls. No major problems reported with many areas without power by nightfall but I am sure all is back to normal now as the wind did abate rapidly after 8pm as the barometer rose quite fast. This morning its around 29.90 with wind gusts of less the 25mph. inland.
 
 
Today has been very warm again and mostly sunny The wind has continued to fall with not much at all presently On another note I did record over 4 inches of rain since July 12th so that?s good as we had not seen rainfall for a month at least.
 
As I said in a previous post I cannot believe that we were having a tropical system this early in the season this far north as this would normally happen late August and more then likely if at all September. Most Bermudians do not even prepare this early for hurricanes as July August hurricanes are usually in the south Caribbean area. I guess there must be some truth to the world weather changing. I just hope this not the rule of thumb for the next 3 months.
 
Wishing you all a pleasant day, and quiet balance of this already unpredictable hurricane season 2008.
 
 
Regards
Keith
 
Bermuda Islands.
 


- Bertha Update 4:30pm ADST
  • From: Keith / bdaweather <bdaweather at yahoo.com>
  • Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2008 12:50:28 -0700 (PDT)
Bermuda has been bearing the full force of TS Bertha since about 6am this morning the wind has been blowing at 50 to 60 knots all day from the ENE. The barometer seems to have stopped falling now at 29.60. I have actually recorded 52mph at my location inland on the north side of the island its a lot worse. There are tree branches down here and there blocking traffic but no major problems have been reported as I can tell right now. There are sporadic power outages again most have been caused by falling branches. All airlines canceled flights early this morning with BA even canceling their late evening flight from and to the UK. There was a partially calm period around 1pm local with the wind returning shortly there after now from the NNW. So I assume that was some of an eye in that calm period. We are now also under a Hurricane Watch as intermittent hurricane force winds are possible for the next few hours as Bertha slowly move northward.
We have had quite a bit of rain just over 2 inches so far but the wind has been blowing the rain almost horizontal so it most likely was more.
 
It appears to be a bit calmer right now it continues to rain with dark overcast skies, the ocean on the north side of the island is ferocious with massive waves coming ashore. As I have said before its very much like a severe winter type storm that we have in January February. Hopefully the worst is over and thank goodness it was TS Bertha and not the Hurricane Bertha as it was late last week.
 
Thanks for your attention will report when time permits.
 
Regards
Keith


- Bda. Weather Update (Bertha) July 14th 2008
  • From: Keith / bdaweather <bdaweather at yahoo.com>
  • Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2008 05:35:13 -0700 (PDT)
Bermuda woke up this morning to overcast sky and squally rain with wind gusting to around 45 knots, in the higher areas especially in the NE of the island slightly higher gusts. TS Bertha is now expected to be closest around 2pm local. Most of the island is functioning normally the only major inconvenience is the airlines have canceled all flights in and out of the island except for BA which is arriving 2 hours later this evening.
 
The winds are not major at present with gusts in the lower lying areas of 30 mph, at last check I had 1.30 inches of rain need a lot more. Few tree branches on the roads but this is aggravated by the fact we have not had any rain for 6 weeks so the trees have overgrown with blooms and the rain now has made the branches heavy. So all in all its a rainy squally day in Bermuda I have seen a lot worse conditions in January / February winter storms but of course you don't get the South Shore water conditions as we are having now.
 
Keep you updated if conditions change, best wishes for a good day.
 
Regards
Keith


- Bermuda Weather Update
  • From: Keith / bdaweather <bdaweather at yahoo.com>
  • Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2008 12:02:38 -0700 (PDT)
Good afternoon and greetings from Bermuda Sunday July 13th 2008 16:00 ADST
 
Hurricane Bertha now downgraded to a tropical storm looks kind of ragged on this afternoon satellite picture. The plane was investigating Bertha or whats left at 12:30 local time -3 hours GMT. So I guess we should better info later on. Presently its a absolutely glorious day here in Bermuda no rain all day but a little more breeze 20-25 mph very refreshing from the ENE. The forecast is for Bertha to slip by to our east late tomorrow with maybe 50 knot wind in the marine area here on land I don't think we will get anywhere near that. None of my forecasting systems are showing any major bad weather for tomorrow not yet anyway.
 
Now it looks like we just have the third storm of the season Cristobal forming way down south and looking at some long range models have it moving more NW eventually south of Bermuda between us and PR. Oh well have to keep an eye on this possible scenario.
 
Thanks for your interest in Bermuda and our encounter with Bertha I will update if there are any major changes in the weather forecast in the next 48 hours
 
Regards
Keith


- All is well in Bermuda
  • From: Keith / bdaweather <bdaweather at yahoo.com>
  • Date: Sat, 12 Jul 2008 17:51:15 -0700 (PDT)
Hurricane Bertha / Bermuda Update at 21:00 ADST July 12th 2008
 
Good evening everyone on the network.
 
If you have been following the satellite animation of Hurricane Bertha you would notice that there has not been an movement in the past 6 hours at least. We are not experiencing any tropical weather here at present we had few rain showers around 17:00 local but not much else the wind is almost calm highest gust recorded here was 18mph received 00.18 of an inch of rain the humidity is now risen to 83% the barometer steady now 29.95 inches temperature 79.7f wind NNE and calm, at this time the sky is clear, these measurements are my station numbers and not the official figures. I do not actually live on the coast but can hear the ocean roar and actually tonight it does not seem as loud as last. Presently it is a beautiful tranquil Saturday evening in Bermuda.
 
Berthas forecast has not changed if any from a slow north movement in 24 hours and still passing Bermuda on Monday morning. I guess we will just have to wait and see what tomorrow brings as we have been doing now for at least a week...
 
I have attached 2 photos taken this morning of the South Shore in Bermuda.
 
I will update at some point tomorrow, have a pleasant night.
 
Regards
Keith

JPEG image

JPEG image


- Hurricane Bertha / Bermuda
  • From: Keith / bdaweather <bdaweather at yahoo.com>
  • Date: Sat, 12 Jul 2008 12:58:00 -0700 (PDT)
HURRICANE BERTHA UPDATE FROM BERMUDA Saturday July 12Th 16:30 ADST
 
 
Just a quick note to update folks on conditions here at 4.30PM local.
Bermuda was posted with a Tropical Storm warning this morning as we are expecting tropical Storm force winds in the next 24 hours. The official forecast is for approx 50 knot winds late Sunday into Monday with Bertha passing around 100 miles to our east on Monday AM. The wind direction will be from the north. As buildings here are constructed very strong I don't anticipate any major problems thats if everything stays as forecast. I understand the planes investigated Bertha this morning and found her to be weaker then thought but being almost stationary at present lots could change I would feel better if it was moving at a regular speed. She is expected to resume a slow northerly motion in 24 hours.
 
Well here in Bermuda its been off and on sunshine all day. Everything is operating normally. I just received a rain squall that lasted all of 60 seconds but managed to record 00.02inch of rain its the first rain that I have had in a month. The wind is still only gusting to just over 20mph from the north the barometer was falling but now has stabilized around 30.00 inches. As I write this its become overcast again with light rain falling The only indication of a tropical system in the area is actually the sea condition of the south coast I will post some photos later which I took this morning.
 
I will update you as conditions warrant.
 
Take care
 
Keith
Bermuda Islands
 
  


- Hurricane Bertha Update 11/07/08
  • From: Keith / bdaweather <bdaweather at yahoo.com>
  • Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2008 16:23:21 -0700 (PDT)
Bermuda Hurricane Bertha Update for Friday July 11th 2008 20:00 ADST
 
Bermuda tonight is under a Tropical Storm watch this was posted at 12 noon local today Friday July 11th 2008. With the possibility of tropical storm winds affecting us in the next 48 hours. Hurricane Bertha continues to come closer to Bermuda with every passing hour be it slow now at just 5 knots. The official forecast is still for her to track more northerly in the next 12 to 18 hours so as to pass now just over 100 miles east of us on Sunday. Looking at tonights picture Bertha looks like having another circular eye forming although the winds are reported as being 85 with gust to 105 MPH.
 
Today the weather here has been fairly good we have had no rain but its has been a bit hazy this afternoon and the occasional gust of wind to less then 20 knots. The barometer is falling slowly now. Conditions on the South Coast have really picked up as now large waves along with swells are coming ashore. I plan to take some more photos tomorrow as the sea gets more aggressive.
 
Again tonight its a waiting game to see if Bertha really does make this well anticipated north turn it seems like we are almost down to the wire as of now she is still moving in this general direction. The official forecast is for possible 50 knot winds from the north on Sunday again what we really need is some good rain we have had only 20% of the normal rainfall in the last 6 weeks, my personal weather station rain guage is still showing three zeros since July 1st.
 
Take care everyone have a nice weekend.
 
 
Regards
Keith


- Bermuda Hurricane Bertha Update 10/07/08
  • From: Keith / bdaweather <bdaweather at yahoo.com>
  • Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2008 16:43:44 -0700 (PDT)
Bermuda Update for Thursday July 10th 2008 20:00 ADST
 
Well nothing much has changed today in regard to the tracking of Hurricane Bertha, she is expect to intensify in the next 24 hours and eventually stall just to the ESE of Bermuda. This is where the predictions end as she will be in weak steering winds and any movement will be erratic so she could very well threaten us with some storm force wind on Sunday these are my thoughts and not official. The residents here have been advised to keep a close watch on Bertha over the weekend because of the unpredictability of her track especially if her movement is slow or stationary.
 
Again today we have had beautiful weather the signs are posted on the beaches warning about the high surf and dangerous rip tides etc. I personally still observed many people in the water at one of our popular Smiths parish beaches this afternoon the lifeguard was there so I hope his services were not needed.
 
So its another few days of waiting to see just how things materialize with Bertha they say by Monday another east moving trough will pick up whats left of Bertha and take her NE into the Atlantic.
 
I understand the weather computers including the one that was predicting Bertha before coming off the African Coast are showing signs of another tropical system forming around the 40 degree area but this one will move on westerly course so we will have watch this location next week. I do believe the forming of Tropical Systems is influenced by the moon phase with full moon on July 18th. If nothing forms next week things should be quiet at least until early August.
 
Regards
Keith

JPEG image


- Bermuda Tropical Update 09/07/08
  • From: Keith / bdaweather <bdaweather at yahoo.com>
  • Date: Wed, 9 Jul 2008 19:15:19 -0700 (PDT)
Bermuda Update for Wednesday July 9th 2008 22:00ADST
 
With my post last night I was aware that Bertha was supposed to increase in strength again but it now appears that she will or is supposed to pass now less then 200 miles to the ESE sometime on Saturday. Looking at some of the animation today it looked like she may have wobbled a little more to the west during her re-intensification process. These estimates seem to be changing every 12 hours at first it was in the ranges of 300 miles now its less then 200 so I hope this is not an indication of even closer as it stands right now we are just outside of the tropical winds and being on the west side of the hurricane is better as most of Bertha's weather is on the NE.
 
We are now this evening hearing the roar of the ocean on the South Shore a familiar sound when we have tropical systems passing in the summer. The Government has posted the no swimming / do not enter the ocean etc. signs along the public beaches on the South Shore this evening. This is a standard warning to advise of dangerous surf, rip tides etc. that we post every time a tropical system is close by.
 
So its a wait and see situation again for the next few days until Bertha does eventually pass us by. Other then the swimming advice and a small craft warning for the waters all is fine with just the occasional shower in the official forecast. Another almost cloudless sky today with continued dry air and 100% sunshine. We have a saying here for the tourists when it does rain we refer to it as "Liquid Sunshine" we sure could use some of that now as the landscape is getting kind of dry.
 
I will update as time goes on and let all know any changes in the weather situation here, I will also post a photo or two in tomorrows update.
 
 
Regards
Keith


- Bermuda Hurricane Bertha Update
  • From: Keith / bdaweather <bdaweather at yahoo.com>
  • Date: Tue, 8 Jul 2008 19:00:53 -0700 (PDT)
Bermuda Update for Tuesday July 8th 2008 22:00ADST
 
It was another Bermudaful day in Bermuda today for those sun lovers its glorious sun as it has been for the last four weeks. Calm winds pink sandy beaches and the blue water that makes it difficult to distinguish  the horizon from the blue sky
 
Well its good news by all accounts for Bermuda with all indications the projected track of Hurricane Bertha will have her pass us well over 300 miles to our east late Saturday early Sunday we should not feel any affects from Bertha other then some extra surf and swells on the South Shore of the island. It?s a pity that she at least could have sent some rain as its very dry with no rain in sight for the foreseeable future. As I said previously I did not think we were about to have a hurricane as the humidity is very low, by Bermuda standards again today its been in the 50-60% range. The sun is blazing hot I have been recording temperatures up to 87f with the atmosphere very dry  the visibility is still excellent even the sky has such a lovely blue color.
 
There is still a possibility of a new depression forming off the African coast between now and the 20th July, if this does not transpire then the next date would most likely be the first week in August.
 
Best wishes to all hopefully the season will not be as busy as predicted and everyone will stay safe.
 
Regards
Keith


- Those beautiful trees
  • From: "Marion Dyer" <mdyer at myhome.bm>
  • Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2008 18:22:32 -0700
Good evening All
We will watch Bertha closely. I thought you might like to see a picture of the trees that were spoken about. They are called ponciana trees here. The colours range from a beautiful peach to a brilliant red. This one is outside a local school. They are so striking this year truly. By the way my avocado tree is FULL FULL FULL of blossom and little  avocadoes.. let's see how the folk tale works out at the end of the season.
Wishing you all a safe hurricane season. Will keep in touch
Marion

 

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- Bermuda Hurricane Bertha Update
  • From: Keith / bdaweather <bdaweather at yahoo.com>
  • Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2008 15:35:50 -0700 (PDT)
Bermuda Update for Monday July 7th 2008, 20:00 ADST
 
Well it?s been another absolutely gorgeous day here in Bermuda with glorious sunshine and the odd summer shower here and there. Sure is amazing with an island of 22 sq. miles how you could have a shower in one small area in the summer. Overall it remains very dry with lawns going brown rapidly. Daytime highs are around 86f and lows in the high 70s. As I said if you love summer sun then you are in your heaven for sure on the south shore you will get the fresh ocean breezes for relief. The humidity has been quite low for Bermuda around noon day today we were reading in the 60-70% range with excellent visibility which usually to me indicates that we would not be affected by a hurricane usually when a hurricane is approaching the humidity is at least 90%. But it?s still early so things could change
 
We are still monitoring now Hurricane Bertha but it looks now like she may pass to our east as a major Cat. 1 hurricane at present she is now a major Cat 3 the forecast is for her to weaken some after 48 hours. So as it stands right now we have to wait and see as the routing and strength predictions have changed so much in the last week its better to wait for a few more days for a better and more accurate prediction.
 
I read in one of the postings today how someone had a friend here and they had said about the flourishing of one tree and its connection with hurricane season. Well I think I know all the old folklore in Bermuda in predicting storms. This year the Royal Poinciana tree came into bloom about a month ago very early this year. The island is a beautiful red as you cannot go a few hundred yards without seeing one of these trees in full bloom I would assume looking down from a low flying aircraft you would think it was Christmas with all the red flowers and deepmgreen foliage really beautiful this year. The old timers see this as a sure sign of a busy hurricane season. Another is the folks with Avocado pear trees they are seeing a bumper crop if only they don?t get blown off in a storm before maturity. This is another possible sign of a hurricane. There are a few others too so I guess we will see if any are accurate enough to be used as a genuine weather forecast.
 
Again we will be standing by to see exactly what Bertha decides to do.
 
Regards
Keith  


- Update from Bermuda / Monitoring Bertha
  • From: Keith / bdaweather <bdaweather at yahoo.com>
  • Date: Sun, 6 Jul 2008 18:55:24 -0700 (PDT)
Hello everyone we will be watching the weather very closely this up coming week as the tracks of TS Bertha which will be Hurricane Bertha in at least 48 hours is now projected to come very close to us by next weekend. I don't believe that I am even discussing a hurricane this far north in early July as the records back to 1854 had only one hurricane affect Bermuda in July hurricane Alice July 4th 1973 cpoa 25 miles with wind of 92mph. and a small unnamed tropical storm in June 1957 Hurricanes / Tropical Storms do not usually affect us in July mostly in late August September and even October..
 
The weather has been peculiar all year so far with a record rainfall over 11 inches in May with cooler temperatures and in June we had less then a quarter of the average rainfall 1.15 inches. We have not had any significant rainfall for almost a month now, very dry and landscape turning brown from lack of moisture. Its been very hot over the past few weeks but the humidity has been down these past few days so hopefully this will work in our favor and keep Bertha south if the air stays dry.
 
So this week will be one of preparing just in case, as the predicted track tonight would have her close to our west and of course Bertha's east which has most of the weather. If this course proves correct then it would be almost a carbon copy of what we experienced with Fabian Sept 5th 2003.
 
That's it for now will try and keep you updated as the week progresses.
 
Regards
Keith


- Still too cold for May
  • From: "Marion Dyer" <mdyer at myhome.bm>
  • Date: Tue, 13 May 2008 16:46:34 -0700
Greeting all from not so Sunny Bermuda
We have been dealing with all the left over severe thunder storms that produced tornadoes in the US for the past couple of weeks. We were blessed not to have any tornadoes but the thunder storms were amazing!! Last week Tuesday night we had flooding rains and again yesterday. We are presently under a gale watch and today was cool but breezy. The rain is expected to return tomorrow.
This picture and story were in todays paper from yesterdays rainy adventure.
 
We even had a poor woman who's house got flooded with  8 feet of water making her bed float she had to  swim out of a window to escape.
 
 Our temps are just reaching low 70 during the day and still in low 60's a night . Most days are below average.It would be great if we could have some real sunshine soon.. I packed all my winter clothes away almost a month ago and I still need a light jacket in the day.
Wishing everyone a  wonderful day!!
Marion

 

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