After a day of triple digit heat,the Washington,DC area is being pounded by ferocious derecho thunderstorms,with straightline winds ranging from 70-80 mph and massive lightning strikes.The high winds ripped the roof off a seven storey apartment building in Prince George's County,Maryland,leaving more than 500 people homeless.About 1.5 million residents have lost power,raising health concerns with the air conditioning being shut down in the brutal temperatures.Several jurisdictions set up cooling centers for those in need of a haven.
Roads were strewn with traffic barrels and trees,hindering motorists.In Springfield,Virginia,a tree fell on a car,killing one person and injuring three others.Also in Northern Virginia,another tree fell on a home,killing an elderly woman inside.Flash flood warnings were issued in Maryland.The storms began moving east from the Midwest earlier in the day.Hail up to an inch in diameter was observed.Another round of storms was reportedly on the way from the Ohio Valley,and it was feared it would hit the area before sunrise,but thankfully that did not occur.WTOP radio reporter Hillary Howard saw rare cloud to cloud lightning in the initial line of storms.
A PEPCO power company spokeswoman said it would be very safe to say that it would be days before power could be restored.A good assessment wouldn't be possible till morning light.On the National Mall,tents for the Independence Day celebration sustained damage.
The big heat wave followed a few days of pleasant,dry weather likened to that of California.
A derecho-pronouced "deraycho"- is a huge,protracted straightline windstorm preceding a squall line of swift and severe thunderstorms,typically moving from west to east across the continent.
Friday, June 29, 2012
Friday, June 22, 2012
Commentary:A Baseball Hero Helps Out
Hearing that Johnny Bench had a brush with skin cancer brought back summertime memories of being a baseball fan in the 1970s.At that time,baseball cards were unbelievably popular among boys,and Johnny Bench's card was one you held onto.He was the greatest catcher of his era,excelling in both the offensive and defensive aspects of the game.Finding out he'd been ill was concerning to his many fans;but it was a relief to learn he'd been effectively treated for basal cell carcinoma.
It's potentially a teachable moment when a celebrity is sick.Many of them,such as Johnny Bench, go on to use their fame to help combat the illness,alerting the public to ways it may be prevented,detected or healed,if prevention fails.
Greater meaning is given to their entire experience of the health problem,and people they never met may be aided by their sharing.This is the case for Johnny Bench as he participates in the Major League Baseball/American Academy of Dermatology Play Sun Smart skin cancer awareness program
It's potentially a teachable moment when a celebrity is sick.Many of them,such as Johnny Bench, go on to use their fame to help combat the illness,alerting the public to ways it may be prevented,detected or healed,if prevention fails.
Greater meaning is given to their entire experience of the health problem,and people they never met may be aided by their sharing.This is the case for Johnny Bench as he participates in the Major League Baseball/American Academy of Dermatology Play Sun Smart skin cancer awareness program
Friday, June 15, 2012
Watching Wallenda
Nik Wallenda provided an unparalleled boost to binational tourism as he also entertained a worldwide television audience Friday night in the first crossing on foot directly over the brightly illuminated Niagara Falls from New York state to Ontario,Canada.The walk,which made even TV viewers feel some vertigo,went off without incident.Indeed,Wallenda,a man with clear eyes and a ready smile on his open face,a member of the legendary acrobatic family The Fying Wallendas,answered several questions from ABC journalists as he negotiated the daunting traverse over one of the natural wonders of North America and the globe.The hazards he faced included the prodigious mist generated by the falls;unpredictable swirling winds;the endurance required to make the trek with a huge balancing pole;and the sheer magnitude of the concentration needed to navigate various lights,crowd noise,and the extreme visual stimuli of crossing the precipice of the river dropping 158 feet into the chasm below.Many prayers sustained the acrobat's spirit,as did the thought of his great grandfather and German emigre Karl Wallenda,the family patriarch who fell to his death off a tightrope in Puerto Rico in the 1970s.
The master of the tightrope Nik Wallenda said his next goal was to walk across the Grand Canyon at a height of 1400 feet and a width of more than a mile.Permits have already been secured and ABC,part of the Walt Disney Company,is no doubt eagerly seeking that broadcast as well.
Walt Disney(DIS)
Friday, June 8, 2012
The Sun and Venus From Mauna Loa
Many of us watched the Venus transit on a live feed from the NOAA observatory at 11,000 feet on Hawaii's Mauna Loa volcano.Light winds pushing the telescopes caused the images to shimmer.Venus was a big black dot much larger than the sunspots also visible on the sun's surface.Sunspots are magnetic storms a few hundred degrees cooler than the surface of the sun,hence darker in appearance.They have a black umbra,or center,and a gray penumbra,or border.Giant convection cells of heat rise from beneath the solar disc;they are from hydrogen bubbling up from below the surface,causing lighter and hotter regions on the sun.We are near a solar maximum,when there are a lot of sunspots and other activity on the sun.It is the peak of a solar cycle.This was the longest period of time-45 minutes just before sunset-that I have ever observed the sun.It's so liquid and alive:an aspect of the sun we aren't normally aware of.The astronomer Galileo first discovered this;but,in his ignorance of the danger,paid with his priceless eyesight,his retinas damaged by the intensity of the solar rays.Now Venus moved along the sun's rim;but the sun itself,looking blue,red and yellow in the telescopes' filters,had become my fascination.
Friday, June 1, 2012
New Mexico Fire Sears Gila National Forest
New Mexico's Whitewater-Baldy Complex Fire had grown to 217,988 acres as of 6 hours ago.The fire began as a result of a lightning strike on May 16.It is burning east of Route 180 on Gila National Forest,which contains about 3.3 million acres.The wildland fire has destroyed 12 homes and several outbuildings.The community of Mogollon remains under mandatory evacuation.Some 1257 personnel are engaged in firefighting at this time,including 15 hotshot crews and 12 hand crews,utilizing 60 engines;27 water tenders;7 dozers;and 10 helicopters.The largest fire in the state's history,it covers steep stands of ponderosa pine and formidable canyons,consuming mixed conifers and grass with heavy concentrations of deadfall as well.Growth potential is high on the extremely difficult terrain.Wildlife such as elk,mule deer,bear and antelope are abundant in the national forest's Reserve Ranger District,where much of the fire is located.It is an isolated mountainous area in Southwest New Mexico.Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument has been closed by the incident,as have the Catwalk Area and Snow Lake/Dripping Vat Campground.Smoke impacts are likely in Mogollon,Glenwood and Silver City,so heart and lung patients,as well as children and the elderly,should avoid prolonged activity in the out of doors.Tony Sciacca is Incident Commander.Some New Deal era Historic Landmarks,some old fire lookout cabins,are being protected by the wildland firefighters.New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez visited the Incident Command Post on Thursday and was briefed by staff on the situation.The very low humidity of 5% is ensuring quite a struggle ahead for all concerned for a number of days and indeed weeks.The forest is world famous among hunters.
Update:The fire has grown to 227,000 acres.Wildland firefighters are now utilizing 64 engines and 28 water tenders.Heli-rappelers have also been brought in.They are a specialized resource for early stage remote fires,rappeling from helicopters to extinguish fires or gather reconnaissance on challenging terrain.
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