CNN - WeatherFX Blog

Typhoon Kalmeagi hits Taiwan

2008-07-17T19:02:00.001-04:00

Five days of heavy rain …

Five days of rough seas ... but finally a chance to dry out and clean up in the northern Philippines as Kalmeagi moves away.

And they have plenty of cleaning to do. Heavy rains flooded low-lying areas, snarled traffic and swamped crops throughout the region.

There were some very impressive rainfall totals over parts of northern Luzon:

Laoag 662 mm (26.06")
Vigan 296 mm (11.65")
Aparri 215 mm (8.46")
Tuguegaro 138 mm (5.43")

Kaelmagi was still a tropical storm on Wednesday as it slowly drifted north-northwest over the warm waters of the Luzon Strait.

It became a typhoon Thursday and headed straight for Taiwan.

I spoke with Andrew Lee an journalist in Taipei and he told me that the storm made landfall before midnight local time. He added that while there had not been very heavy rain in Taipei, areas to the south had been inundated by heavy rainfall.

Some of the more impressive numbers include:

Jiasian 628.5 mm (24.74")
Liouciouyu 270.0 mm (10.63")
Caoling 255.0 mm (10.41")
Kaohsiung 269.0 mm (10.59")
Hualien 157.0 mm (6.18")

On average Taiwan gets hit by 4 or 5 typhoons every year.

Kaelmagi is the 8th storm to form in the Western Pacific this year, but the first to hit Taiwan in 2008.

-- From CNN Weather Anchor, Mari Ramos

A meeting of meteorological minds

2008-07-16T07:59:00.008-04:00

Meteorologists around the world all have the same job … to forecast and explain the weather.

But depending where you are, that can mean tracking tropical cyclones, predicting snowfall totals, reporting on the environment. Or if you are a meteorologist on CNN International, it can be all three in one day!

I recently had the wonderful opportunity to attend the 36th Annual American Meteorological Society’s Conference on Broadcast Meteorology and I am very excited to share with you some of the highlights.

Denver, Colorado was the location for the meeting. Denver is known as the “Mile High City” because its elevation is exactly one mile high 5,280 feet or 1,609.344 meters.

The conference on Broadcast Meteorology was not only filled with lectures given by meteorologists around the world, but the best part, I thought was the field trips to National Center for Atmospheric Research / the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research and NOAA in Boulder, Colorado.

Both of these research centers -- high on a mountain in Boulder, Colorado -- are researching weather to study climate, air chemistry, storms, the sun and its effect on Earth and the interactions of humans and the environment.

We had the chance to meet one on one with the top scientists in weather! Since my focus is Asia and Australia, I was very interested in the research being done for forecasting these regions.

One of the things I learned is that NCAR works with their counterparts regularly in Shanghai and in Sydney, for example, to improve techniques in forecasting tropical cyclones and drought.

Dr. Gregory Holland took the time to explain to me the topography of his homeland, Australia.

The climate there is really fascinating: It’s possible to have drought and floods in close proximity. He described the winter in the Southeastern part of the country as wet and cold, similar to Great Britain at times.

At one point on the tour, a bunch of us went to a dark conference room and donned 3D glasses (I am not kidding.) We were literally wowed by 3D animations of how wildfire grows and spreads. The animation showed the patterns and movement of fires and smoke plumes depending on atmospheric conditions. Wildfires have been in the news lately in California in the U.S. and in Greece.

The next stop on our field trip was literally down the mountain, to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Here we were treated to two amazing projects NOAA is conduction from Boulder.

The first is “Science on a Sphere.”

Science On a Sphere (SOS) ® is a room-sized global display system that uses computers and video projectors to display planetary data onto a six foot diameter sphere, analogous to a giant animated globe. Researchers at NOAA developed Science On a Sphere® as an educational tool to help illustrate Earth System science to people of all ages.

For a meteorologist, it's one thing to look at a satellite image on a flat computer screen, but to see it all moving along overlaid on a huge globe of the Earth was especially cool!

Our guide was able to tilt the Earth model so we could see the North and South Poles clearly. We were also able to watch how warm water literally moves around the world. I was fascinated as warm water came into the Tropical Atlantic, for example, then “looped” into the Gulf of Mexico.

That loop of warm deep water and the eddies that break off from it is one of the reasons we saw hurricanes like Katrina explode into Category Five intensity once they moved over this section of water in the Gulf of Mexico!

For all you space fans, our last stop will probably be your favorite to hear about. At NOAA in Boulder you will find the Space Weather Prediction Center.

Did you know that Polar Flights, international air travel that passes over the North and South Pole, is dependent on Space Weather forecasting? I was fascinated by this and you will likely find me talking more about it soon on CNN Today Asia in my weather reports!

Later back in Denver, we continued on in the coming days to talk about other topics: Including climate change, hurricanes, tornadoes and communication tools to best display our reports, to you, our viewer.

I can tell you the technology that is coming is truly amazing and in the coming months, keep tuning into CNN International for the most interesting and cutting-edge reports on the weather and the environment!

It’s my pleasure and privilege to bring it to you weekdays CNN Today Asia and alongside my colleagues on Weather FX each month!

-- From Meteorologist Bonnie Schneider

A lesson in flash photography

2008-06-30T10:58:00.013-04:00

Living in the southeastern United States, it’s common to see afternoon thunderstorms in the summertime.

They happen during the hottest part of the day when the heated air from the surface rises into the cooler air above it. This causes instability in the air which can lead to heavy rain, lightning, strong winds and hail. (Unfortunately, this often coincides with evening rush hour.)

Not too bad for an amateur, right?

I have always loved watching thunderstorms. My parents and I would stand on the porch and watch the sky as they approached. (We would take cover when they got close, of course).

I love the wind, the way the clouds look and especially the lightning. One of my earliest memories was my dad, brother and I counting the seconds between lighting and thunder to find out how far away the storm was from our house.

A few weeks ago I bought a DSLR camera and was eager to test it out on anything I could find.

Soon, I found the perfect subject: A late-night thunderstorm. Storms in north Georgia usually move from west to east and north to south. This particular band of storms was unusually strong for the time of night and was moving from south to north.

It hit my neighborhood around 1030 p.m. The lightning with this storm was frequent and bright.

So, I did what any good journalist would do: I grabbed my camera and headed for the front porch. It took me quite a while to figure out how to get my camera to take a picture in the dark (no, I still haven’t read the manual.)

New cameras are so automatic they won’t let you take a bad picture. Normally I appreciate that.

That night, I was frustratingly fumbling with the dozens of settings to make the camera bend to my will.

Every few seconds, lightning was lighting up the sky and the time between the lightning and the thunder was getting smaller and smaller. I was running out of time.

Finally I found the night setting, disabled the flash, switched the focus to manual, and started snapping.

I quickly discovered how hard it is to take pictures of flashes of light. Needless to say, my response time was slower than the light speed and I ended up missing the lightning by fractions of a second.

By the time I saw the lightning and pressed my finger on the button, it was gone. I was left with boring pictures of bright sky. So, I decided I would try picture roulette: The art of taking pictures at random.

This method proved more effective than the wait-and-snap method. I took pictures until the rain started and then came inside to examine my work.

The wonderful thing about digital pictures as opposed to film is that you can delete digitals without wasting anything but time and battery power! It’s a good thing too, because I took 40 pictures and only 2 came out worth showing.

I have a whole season of storms to get good

They’re a bit blurry, but I thought I would share them anyway. Not too bad for an amateur, right? Luckily I have an entire season of thunderstorms to get good at it.

What’s the weather like where you live? Every month we have some of the best iReports on the show. Send us your pictures so we can put them on the show. Click here to share your pictures or video.

-- From Jenni Watts, Producer, Weather FX

Fengshen update

2008-06-23T06:42:00.001-04:00

Fengshen is now a tropical storm over the South China Sea. It is moving away from the Philippines.

The weather in the hard-hit areas will slowly continue to improve, though it will take days for the water to recede.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center has the storm tracking to the north and through the Taiwan Strait.

Hong Kong should not be affected directly, but could get some strong thunderstorms in the next day or so.

Northeastern Guandong, Fujian and Taiwan are still within the “margin of error” and could have a direct impact.

According to the most recent forecast, Fengshen is not expected to regain typhoon strength.

Here are some of the rainfall totals reported so far:

Roxas 376 mm (14.80”)
Ninoy Aquino Inter-National Airport 168 mm (6.61”)
Alabat 169 mm (6.65”)
Calapan 170 mm (6.69”)
Tanay 160 mm (6.30”)
Subic Bay Weather Station 149 mm (5.87”)
Borongan 154 mm (6.06”)
Guiuan 167 mm (6.57”)
Tacloban 212 mm (8.35”)
Sangley Point 199 mm (7.83")
Tayabas 184 mm (7.24")

IReporter John Layson Guevara sent these images from the Iloilo City in the Philippines

I spoke with John early this morning. He said they were not expecting the typhoon to hit. He lives in an area usually sheltered from such storms.

Most of the damage is from the rain that came fell on the mountains triggering flash floods, he says. His house was not damaged but there are sporadic power outtages.

Many of the bridges that link the city to outside provinces have been washed away and are impassable due to high water.

John is a professional photographer/videographer.

-- From CNN Weather Anchor, Mari Ramos

Typhoon Fengshen

2008-06-20T10:49:00.004-04:00

“The storm has also gone against all computer guidance and tracked farther west rather than turn north.”

-- Ross Hayes Jr, CNN Weather Producer

Not much advance notice here, but Typhoon Fengshen made landfall in the central Philippines late Thursday afternoon.

Maximum sustained winds were near 140 km/hr with gusts of 170 km/hr.

Hardest hit was Samar where torrential rain and the highest winds have been reported. Waves between 4 and 6.5 meters are pounding the shores of Samar, Visayas and Mindanao.

Authorities issued warnings to people living in areas prone to flooding and mudslides. As Fengshen moves generally north across the country, heavy rain will continue to affect the region, including the capital Manila through the weekend.

IReporter Onyl Malaban sent these pictures from Manila yesterday afternoon.

More heavy rain is expected today, and PAGASA is forecasting winds up to 75 km/hr in Metro Manila.

Fengshen is called "Frank" in the Philippines.

-- From CNN Weather Anchor, Mari Ramos

I try not to let rainy days and Wednesdays get me down

2008-06-20T10:46:00.002-04:00

I have lived in London for 19 months now and the weather can be described with the following words: Cold, gray and rainy. There are variations. Sometimes it is only gray and cold. But, for the most part, you can almost always count on the rain factoring into your plans in some way or other.

When my friends from the states come to visit me, they think I am completely strange when I carry an umbrella on a clear day. (Those are rare, the clear days and the visits from my friends). Without fail, if I forget some kind of rain gear, I can almost guarantee I will get wet. (My co-workers can attest to the fact I am grumpy when I get wet.) Now, the weather in London isn’t always horrible. We do have a few days of partial sun and temperatures where you can walk around without a coat. But they are rare - just like the clear days and the visits from friends – but I digress.

So, when I was asked to go out with Jenny Harrison and shoot the links to the Weather F/X show I was very excited. It was my chance to get out of the office, get away from the grind, get some fresh air and do something different. I did do something different – in the rain. We hoped, we prayed, we did an anti-rain dance. The forecast looked fine for Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. But Wednesday – my big day – it forecast rain and they were right. When I left my apartment, the clouds covered the sky and the wind was blowing. I did find some solace that I was shooting links for a WEATHER show, so having an umbrella in a shot would not be the end of the world.

Jenny, my cameraman, our driver and I headed off to the Thames Barrier Park. We didn’t let the gray clouds or impending rain dampen our spirits (so to speak!) But when we opened the car door we hit with a blast of blustery air. This was not going to be easy. When you are on shoots, you have to take into account if the rain is hitting the lens of the camera or if the wind is whistling through the microphone. (You also have to explain to the managers why the camera isn’t working after water seeped into it and that can be really bad, not to mention expensive). So, we had our work cut out for us. The park was a great location. It is 22 acres of lawns, trees and hedges that many call an “urban oasis.”

The park has an interesting history. During the 19th century and into the 20th, the park was formally known as Prince Regents Wharf. The construction of the nearby Royal Docks to the north stimulated the development of numerous Thames wharfs and industries. For more than a hundred years, the site grew contaminated by the various chemicals used by businesses. In 1994, the area was cleared and capped in preparation for its transformation into one of London’s green spaces. In 1995, the London Docklands Development Corporation launched a competition to create a riverside park. In 1998, the first tree was planted there and the park officially opened in November 2000.

Owned by the London Development Agency, the Thames Barrier was built to prevent the possibility of catastrophic flooding in London. The city received a nasty wakeup call in 1953. According to FloodLondon.com, the worst storm surge of the last century hit the East Coast on January 31st/February 1st of that year. It breached flood defenses, knocked out tide gauges between the Wash and Southend and devastated Canvey Island in the Thames Estuary. On Canvey alone, 58 people died and 10,000 had to be evacuated. The flooding extended into the Docklands but Central London was spared. This prompted the government to set up a committee to study the flooding threat to the capital. Long story short (too late!) after a great deal of study, the Barrier was officially opened in 1984. (They took a long time to really study it). It cost £440 million to complete.

Back to shoot, overall, despite the wind, the rain and cold temperatures – everything worked out well. We managed to get everything accomplished and have some fun in the process. You can check our final product on this month’s Weather F/X. I hope you like it!

From CNNI Producer Mary Davies

May Weather FX Blog

2008-05-15T03:55:00.008-04:00

Weather knows no borders. It’s something I have said before now on-air, but never has it been more true than with the events of the past month. Just days after Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar, China suffered its worst earthquake in over 30 years and in the United States an unusually severe, killer tornado season has begun. May 2008 will long be remembered as one of the worst months for natural disasters.

Cyclone Nargis will go down in history as one of the deadliest tropical cyclones of all time. With the unofficial death toll of 100,000 people and over 200,000 missing, it currently ranks as the 10th deadliest storm in world history, but as aid efforts continue to be blocked, that death toll could rise further making Cyclone Nargis second only to the Great Bhola Cyclone of 1970 which struck Bangledesh, killing close to half a million people.

With the onset of the Southwest Monsoon season, weather conditions across Myanmar will only worsen, heavy rain and flooding will compound the misery and increase the risk of disease for the hundreds of thousands of survivors.

This month on Weather FX, we focus on severe weather and in particular – severe thunderstorms. What makes some parts of the world more vulnerable than others? Why and how does a tornado form? Just how dangerous is lightning and where does it strike most? These are a few of the questions we hope to answer in this month’s show, at the same time we’ll give you some tips on how to stay safe when a severe thunderstorm is heading your way.

All across the northern hemisphere as the summer months beckon, we start to plan outdoor activities, anything from a simple family picnic, a golfing tournament, to a small village fete or a large town festival. The weather does not discriminate, affecting each and every one of us. We can’t prevent the weather, but we can go a long way to prevent placing ourselves in harms way…….

So, tune in to the show, then head outdoors to make the most of the coming months ... and, enjoy ...

Cyclone Nargis update

2008-05-05T13:54:00.001-04:00

I sadly write that the numbers are finally coming in today and the world is now seeing the horrific images in the aftermath of Nargis. Over 15,000 are dead and it is estimated that those numbers are going to continue to rise. This is much more than I ever expected.

As I wrote a few days ago, minimal information had come out of the country the day after the storm made landfall. It only makes me wonder how much or how little information about this storm was disseminated within the country prior to landfall and could that information have helped to reduce the number of fatalities.

Here at the World Weather center we all share in the grief for the innocent lives lost in Myanmar and for the families who have lost everything. If you would like to be involved, there are many organizations that desperately need you help right now to bring aid to Myanmar. A few of those agencies can be found at www.cnn.com/impactyourworld

I think it appropriate to end this blog as I did previously, to continue to stay prepared, informed and involved.

-- From Kevin Corriveau, CNN Senior Weather Producer/Anchor Click here to send your weather iReports or e-mail us at worldweather@cnn.com

Cyclone Nargis

2008-05-03T13:48:00.003-04:00

I write this blog with concern and frustration. Cyclone Nargis made landfall along the southwestern coast of Myanmar with sustained winds of over 210 kph.

This cyclone if compared to a storm in the Atlantic had the strength of a category 4 hurricane.

We’ve all seen what storms like Katrina and Sidr can do with their powerful winds and deadly storm surges.

So here at the CNNI Weather center, my colleagues and I knew a few days in advance that this was going to be a very bad situation.

The storm track would take this powerful cyclone along the very low lying, delta region of southern Myanmar.

When you combine that geography with the circulation of the storm major flooding is almost inevitable.

A storm surge of 3 – 5 meters was also expected to travel well inland with little elevation change to stop its progress. I do hate to sound pessimistic, but many years of experience watching these storms has given me reason to be very concerned for this region.

My frustration comes from the fact that there continues to be media lockdown in this country. Very little information if any is coming out. I did happen to see one article this morning from the Associated Press saying that an official from the country’s meteorology department spoke anonymously to a reporter about the expected deaths and injuries in the city of Yangon and the rest of the country. But so far that has been about it.

When no information comes out, then no one hears or sees the devastation and the need for aid.

-- From Kevin Corriveau, CNN Senior Weather Producer/Anchor Click here to send your weather iReports or e-mail us at worldweather@cnn.com

April Weather FX Blog

2008-04-18T04:44:00.004-04:00

As I write this, I’m sitting on my front porch enjoying a beautiful spring day, the sun is shining, there is a light breeze and rain is forecast for the start of the weekend. Here in the southeast United States, when people pass the time of day chatting about the weather (as we all seem to the world over) the conversation inevitably turns to the continuing drought and when the next good rainfall is expected.

This month on ‘Weather FX’ we look at drought and how it continues to affect so many parts of the world and the impact little or no rainfall has on our lives. For some of us, it’s a matter of conserving water, but as we know only too well, for others, drought can become a matter of life and death.

To film this month’s show we headed up to Lake Lanier, a reservoir in the northern portion of Georgia, which provides drinking water for several million people. By December last year, the continuing drought in the southeast had reached critical status and water levels in the lake set an all time record low. Water restrictions had been in place for several months by this stage, but thankfully since the beginning of 2008, good winter and early spring rains have made some headway, although the levels are still over four meters below the ideal and it is crucial that we see more rain during the next few months.

But what about life in an arid or semi-arid climate? Across regions such as northern Africa, seasonal rains become your lifeline and if they fail to materialize the results can be devastating. And how do you survive in a desert climate?

Rain we can forecast, but drought? Can it be predicted? And what can be done to recover from severe drought?

These are just some of the questions we hope to answer in this month’s show and just like last month, we will also be answering some of the questions you have emailed to us and showing the best of your iReport pictures and video.

Just one last thing before I sign off – are you good at recycling water? I’m not sure you will go to quite the lengths of some….there is recycling and then there is recycling, as you will find out in our ‘Weather FX Files’ on this month’s show…..I’ll say no more and leave you to watch.

-- From CNN International Weather Anchor, Jenny Harrison

Click here to send your weather iReports or e-mail us at worldweather@cnn.com

Stay prepared, informed and involved

2008-04-18T04:41:00.006-04:00

As I was driving into work this morning, I noticed that Centennial Park, which is just across the street from CNN center, was finally reopened to the public. The roads through downtown Atlanta still have detours as workers continue to repair damage and broken windows in the high rise buildings. Why do I mention this? Well a little over 3 weeks ago, Atlanta saw its first ever downtown tornado. This was just one tornado in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I write this because it definitely gave me a different perspective when the natural disaster is in your own back yard. The Atlanta downtown commuters have been inconvenienced for three weeks while repairs have been underway. But I can’t help to think how minimal this inconvenience is compared to the magnitude of the other natural disasters I’ve reported on over the last several years and how life as many people know it will never be the same again.

Years later there are many regions in the world that are still recovering from natural devastation, but are hardly talked about anymore: The victims of the 2005 Pakistan earthquake during a bitterly cold winter, Cyclone Sidr in Bangladesh, the Gulf Coast of the U.S. after Hurricane Katrina, and the many coastal towns and cities around the Andaman Sea affected by the tsunami. This of course is just a small handful of the many that have taken place over the last several years.

World food prices are on the rise which is making it increasingly difficult to bring relief not only to new areas in need, but also to the communities that are on the long road to recovery. As members of the world community, let’s continue to stay prepared, informed and involved.

-- From Kevin Corriveau, CNN Senior Weather Producer/Anchor

Click here to send your weather iReports or e-mail us at worldweather@cnn.com

Welcome to the Weather FX Blog

2008-03-14T12:22:00.009-04:00

Spring to me always signifies the start of something new and fresh, a time to get outdoors after my winter hibernation (I’ve lived in the southeast US too long as the winters here are hardly severe…), so what better time to launch our new show "Weather FX"! Plus, as host of the first show, I was going to be filming outdoors – well, I’m not daft…

First we had to decide our main theme for show one – and believe me, with so many major weather events taking place regularly around the world, it wasn’t an easy decision, but we agreed on La Nina as this particular phenomenon is currently affecting millions of people all around the globe.

La Nina, which comes from the Spanish meaning ‘the little girl’, is very simply, unusually cold ocean temperatures in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean – the effects of La Nina are however, anything but simple and that is what we explain in this first show.

Of course we don’t stop there! Ever fancied a behind the scenes tour of exactly what we do at the World Weather Center? Well this first show takes you on that tour, no tickets to buy, no bus to board, but all from the comfort of your armchair …

Then we come to you – weather affects each and every one of us every single day and so our new show simply wouldn’t be complete without hearing from you, so every month we will be answering your weather questions and showing a selection of your iReport pictures and video. Of course we use your input on a regular daily basis, but in the show it’ll be the best of the best! So keep them coming!

And it doesn’t stop there, but I think I should……don’t want to give it all away before you’ve tuned in to watch…..every month we’ll have a new topic and give you an in depth look, but that’s for another time.

Well, in typical Atlanta weather fashion, today is chilly and cloudy after a gloriously hot, sunny day yesterday – when we were out filming….well, I’m not a weather forecaster for nothing…….

-- From CNN International Weather Anchor, Jenny Harrison

Click here to send your weather iReports or e-mail us at worldweather@cnn.com