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Jonesing for a Chase


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I finally found a really good one called Elevation Pro. Using GPS, it locates your current position in Google Maps and then gives you the USGS elevation for that location. You can also click anywhere on the map to get elevations for other locations. I tested it against a few places where I know the elevation: the beach, Badwater Basin in Death Valley, the KSMO METAR station, etc.-- and it seems very accurate. Yay!

Cool. Does it only work in the US since it relies upon USGS maps?

Regardless, seems like you have really upped your game to account for many of the factors that made your Karl readings so whacky. thumbsupsmileyanim.gif

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Cool. Does it only work in the US since it relies upon USGS maps?

Regardless, seems like you have really upped your game to account for many of the factors that made your Karl readings so whacky. thumbsupsmileyanim.gif

Hey, thanks! :)

Yeah, the USGS coverage is worldwide, essentially-- which is very cool. I'm excited to finally have an easy way of figuring out my altitude. As long as I have my 3G connection, it's cool.

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Hey, thanks! :)

Yeah, the USGS coverage is worldwide, essentially-- which is very cool. I'm excited to finally have an easy way of figuring out my altitude. As long as I have my 3G connection, it's cool.

I guess it was silly of me to assume that the USGS hasn't elevation mapped Mexico.

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Hey, thanks! :)

Yeah, the USGS coverage is worldwide, essentially-- which is very cool. I'm excited to finally have an easy way of figuring out my altitude. As long as I have my 3G connection, it's cool.

Do you have a smartphone with GPS? I do and it's generally accurate within 30 feet or so. Checked it against Google Earth maps (which I think use the USGS data). Although maybe you're looking for even more accurate readings.

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Do you have a smartphone with GPS? I do and it's generally accurate within 30 feet or so. Checked it against Google Earth maps (which I think use the USGS data). Although maybe you're looking for even more accurate readings.

I have an Android-- however, for this kind of thing, I prefer using my iPad because of the great selection of apps. (Of course, the iPad uses the same technology as an iPhone and has GPS.) Not to sound fussy, but accuracy of +/- 30 ft doesn't cut it for barometer calibrations, as differences that large really yield much different readings-- i.e., several tenths of a millibar. I'm being kind of OCD about this, as I want my readings to have some sort of scientific value. :D

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Won't that stop working once the cell towers go out?

Yes. But I'm usually fairly close to my chase position by the time the cyclone's core is close enough to knock out communications, so I should be able to get a good read on my altitude before my connection goes down. The other thing is that most hurricane-landfall regions tend to be pretty flat, so small changes in position shouldn't affect altitude too dramatically.

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So now that we're past 10 August, the real waiting game ensues. We're now in prime season, and there's that constant expectation which will last from now until late October.

It's a cruel passion-- one that can only be truly satisfied during a 10-week period each year, but which lingers for the rest of the year like a nagging itch.

(Of course some azz-rippin', 135-kt microcane would scratch that itch real good-- at least for a while.)

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I have only been tracking canes for the last two years... In 2009 and I happened to be in Ocean City, MD when hurricae bill passed just off of the coast..... swimming was restricted to surfers and body boarders with fins. Swell kicked up 8-12 foot surf. So I went out and bought a board and some fins and paddled out. Within the first 10 minutes I caught a 8 foot tube, rode the shoulder and I was instantly hooked. I spent the rest of the day trying not to drown (seriously it was that big). I have been a weather fanatic since the superstorm back in 92 but usually only paid attention in winter... now summer time is my favorite time of the year... since I board, a recurve is just as good as a landfall...

Question... in my laymans observations.. it always seems like a disturbance takes a good 2-3 days longer to cross the atlantic than what the early model guidance indicates. I know this because I usually take a day off of work about 7 days in advance of an approaching storm... but it never works out that the day I take off is the day it passes by the coast. It is like my personal model verification system... Does anyone else notice this? Is there any historic data on this? And if so, what are the reasons?

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OK, I'm going to ignore 92L and 93L. Obsessing over them for the next week is absurd. I always promise myself I won't get sucked in by this Cape Verde nonsense...

I'll just have fun calibrating my barometer and charging videocam batteries until a real threat materializes.

0z Euro shows a Caribbean Cruiser towards Cancun, with a nice High over the GOM...

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0z Euro shows a Caribbean Cruiser towards Cancun, with a nice High over the GOM...

0Z Euro ensembles lift the trough out by day 10 enough so that anything near or South of about Miami would probably miss the trough and cruise West. Anything in the 3 days before that would have to be well South of the Greater Antilles probably not to feel the trough.

A little wishcasting, but the rare South Florida to Texas path would do wonders for the drought.

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It's hard not to feel tingly looking at those GFDL and GFS tracks which have really persisted with the deep-W, Caribbean Cruiser scenario for the last 24 hr or so. The Euro still isn't showing much with this system, but no matter-- I'll seize onto the positive signs with nothing short of a death grip.

I've been thinking about it, and we haven't a really hawt, red-meat, clean Caribbean Cruiser since the monster twins, Dean and Felix, of 2007. Time we get one, I say. I feel almost entitled at this point.

C'mon.



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It's hard not to feel tingly looking at those GFDL and GFS tracks which have really persisted with the deep-W, Caribbean Cruiser scenario for the last 24 hr or so. The Euro still isn't showing much with this system, but still-- I'll seize onto the positive signs with nothing short of a death grip.

I've been thinking about it, and we haven't a really hawt, red-meat, clean Caribbean Cruiser since the monster twins, Dean and Felix, of 2007. Time we get one, I say. I feel almost entitled at this point.

C'mon.

Josh's true thinking: I would love to see an Andrew-esque track so I can chase in Key Largo with a tight 135-kt storm but I don't want the stress of Hispaniola and an Emily redux so let's try for a Dean or Ivan.

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Josh's true thinking: I would love to see an Andrew-esque track so I can chase in Key Largo with a tight 135-kt storm but I don't want the stress of Hispaniola and an Emily redux so let's try for a Dean or Ivan.

Gimme a Dean. I want a rematch with a Yucatan Cat 5. I was close-but-no-cigar last time. Need to right that wrong.

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Gimme a Dean. I want a rematch with a Yucatan Cat 5. I was close-but-no-cigar last time. Need to right that wrong.

Well, I'm guessing 94L could be Gert soon enough, 93L would then be Harvey or Irene. Atleast that is one possibility shaping up. Josh chases Harvey. Hmmm.....

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