Ernesto Calling, Katrina Remembered

According to Jeff Masters at Weather Underground, the sometimes tropical storm, sometimes hurricane Ernesto is a kind of hurricane season calling card---not terribly nasty, but affecting a lot of people over a long time, telling them that: we're back.

Ernesto won't be at sea long enough to crank up to the ferocious storm it could be, Masters says. But it's already bringing thunderstorms to the Florida Keys and will come ashore with wind and rain, and make its way up the state. It may then go back out to sea and energize again for forays into the Carolinas and up through the Middle Atlantic states.

It may tell the meteorologists something about the relative ocean temps all up the coast and how they interact with these storms this year. And it may remind people that hurricane season is here. But it is likely to be a pretty mild reminder, a nice nudge to get prepared. But not an indication of how severe things could get. Another twelve to 24 hours in the Caribbean, Masters suggests, and Ernesto could have been real trouble.

On this anniversary of Katrina, moveon. said: One year ago today Hurricane Katrina made landfall. For many of us, it was a moment of clarity: "this is what government looks like when it's run by people who don't believe in it." (Hat tip to Margaret for that quote.)

It's also a nice lead-in to the post which follows...