Will - Rutgers

2 hours ago, JustinRP37 said:

Vector disease ecologist here,

are there any mosquito diseases that cause a sudden onset of frequent heart palpitations, asking for a friend

its possible my rock and roll lifestyle is about to kill me but it would be a lot funnier if my habit of taking long nature walks is why i die in my sleep next week

Just now, Rjay said:

I give up

on what

8 hours ago, Rtd208 said:

...Parts of the northern Mid Atlantic...
   Although there remains substantive spread within/among the various
   model output, 30-50+ kt southerly flow in the 850-700 mb layer may
   linger into the day Thursday across much of the northern Mid
   Atlantic region, generally coincident with the corridor of
   seasonably moist boundary-layer air.  Although lower/mid
   tropospheric lapse rates are forecast to remain weak, weak to
   moderate CAPE may still develop and contribute to scattered
   thunderstorm activity with daytime heating.  In the presence of
   moderate to strong shear in the lower to mid-levels, the environment
   may become conducive to organizing lines or clusters with the
   potential to produce locally damaging wind gusts.  Latest guidance
   appears increasingly suggestive that hodographs could become
   characterized by substantial clockwise-curvature in low levels,
   particularly across parts of eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey
   into south central and southeastern New York state, which may
   support a risk for a couple of tornadoes.

northeast is the new tornado alley confirmed

took a walk on the D&R canal for the first time since Ida.  it's a wreck.  soils and gravel are washed out in several places, plastic debris and trash wrapped around trees, foliage washed out.  mosquitos are rapacious.

hot today, caught me by surprise.  strong sun too.  did NBR hit 90?

did anyone else notice that the fireflies quit early this year?

i seem to remember a few years back they were swarming well into October due to warm moist weather.  i might've thought they'd do the same this year if you told me the weather ahead of time, but i haven't seen them in several weeks, well back into mid-August.

37 minutes ago, TriPol said:

Any truth to the rumors that NYC would be wiped out if that volcano goes off in the canary islands?

oh man, you think?

i should buy $100 SPY puts

30 minutes ago, LibertyBell said:

I wonder who their main predators are.  Seems like our fauna is just as shocked to see them as we are.  Fortunately they haven't made it to Long Island yet but I guess it's just a matter of time.  We have these on the east coast and those monstrous murder hornets on the west coast.  I wonder what's next?

FWIW those murder hornets look so artificial that it makes me wonder if THEY were created in a lab lol

 

the problem is in the very nature of generalist and specialist predators.

generalist predators, like spiders, mantids, will kill and eat this bug, like they kill and eat many bugs, but they don't seek it out or have an evolutionary niche in killing it, and so are not particularly effective at control, especially against the kind of population density the lanternfly can accomplish.  chickens are also generalist predators but can eat much more than a typical density of insect predators, and can better locally control lanternflies.

specialist predators, that might hunt a specific species basically exclusively and control it, aren't here for the lanternfly because of course the lanternfly is not only unknown to the northeast but has poor analogues in the animal kingdom for other insects that are here.  around the world there any many specific species or genera of insects which are controlled by one specific wasp species.  wasps are like antibodies in the insect world.  there is a wasp species Anastatus orientalis which is under investigation because it parasitizes the spotted lanternfly with, apparently, a high specificity.

1 hour ago, Dan76 said:

RIP Norm Macdonald

now we'll never know where he got his ideas from

1 hour ago, bluewave said:

With Newark adding another 70° low yesterday, it’s getting closer to the all-time record.

i have new-all-time-record fatigue

there's actually another round behind it if it can hold up

1 hour ago, Rjay said:

Still never seen one. 

oh, you will.

i'm not really sure what is supposed to stop their march north.  tree-of-heaven can be found throughout SNE and it's not like our climate is that different.  there's no natural predators yet.

they are an amazingly prolific bug when they get a foothold.

18 minutes ago, weathermedic said:

From NWS NYC Twitter:

A cluster of showers and thunderstorms near Lake Erie may reach the area tonight. If the current track and timing holds, it would be after 2Z — which is 10 PM EDT

 

and with the strong lapse rates and decent surface heating there's a chance for this to evolve into some kind of MCC-like feature?

rclab, i absolutely roasted you in off topic and i need you to hear it

49 minutes ago, Will - Rutgers said:

rclab is like a human zen garden

when he goes in for a haircut, they take the little rake, they push around the sand on top of his head until he nods his approval, he hands the SportClips girl a $100 bill and heads to Perkins to meet his wife for lunch

i am so sorry my friend

also does Perkins still exist

my cat's breath smells like cat food, thanks obama

22 minutes ago, LibertyBell said:

Good info right there Will!  What's the farthest north a hurricane has ever made landfall?

 

uhhhh idk maybe Juan in Nova Scotia in 2003?  great question.  i can’t find anything that readily answers that question.

and as for the pacific I haven’t a clue.

Larry is forecast to go extratropical between 45.1 and 52 degrees north--pretty decently high latitude.

the record is Hurricane Faith, 1966, which at 61.1 degrees north was the northernmost Atlantic TC history.

this Weather Fact was brought to you by Juliancolton's Baked Corn 'N' Weenies Cereal.  when you think breakfast, think corn and weenies.  back to you, LibertyBell.

78/68 at 8:20 PM on September 8th.  i'm really just numb to humidity at this point, this feels perfectly comfortable especially with the wind.

i'd like to understand the physiological responses to constant exposure to heat and humidity.  there must be long-term adjustments the body makes if you move to different climates.  probably centered around hormonal changes and metabolic adjustments but probably too electrolyte and water management, skin secretions, hair growth, who knows.

On 9/5/2021 at 5:07 PM, Nibor said:

I had high hopes that this summer would lift me out of the spiral of existential dread but all that’s happened is a steepening of the slope. 

the whole world at your fingertips, the ocean at your door

people have been bitching about the NWS and TV Mets since Moses wore short pants and it’s never going to change in your lifetime.  too many warnings, not enough warnings, the weathermen are always wrong, etc.  the average person barely has a surface knowledge of weather and what goes into it and how it’s forecasted.  also the average person consumes 14 pounds of Cool Ranch Doritos in a year and flosses once every three months.  if the NWS can save a few average people by stopping them from driving directly into floods and tornadoes, that’s basically the most you can hope for, and they are still going to complain anyway.

5 hours ago, Juliancolton said:

Growing sweet corn this year was one of the best decisions I've ever made. So, so much better than store-bought, even from local sources. When you snap an ear off the stalk and bake it within the hour, it's like eating caramel.

i've never thought to bake corn, that sounds pretty good.

4 hours ago, Nibor said:

I had high hopes that this summer would lift me out of the spiral of existential dread but all that’s happened is a steepening of the slope. 

try malt liquor

4 hours ago, rclab said:

Will, it’s the anticipation of that revenge that gets some weenies going. I’m not sure if that came out right but you know wha I mean. As always …..

i am pretty sure Freud wrote something about this

3 hours ago, rclab said:

I’m curious, Will. His face looks fine, so is it his garb? His hair? His handkerchief placement? As always ….

he is gray in both appearance and demeanor

somewhat ironically, we now need the rain to wash off some of these muddy, silty roads and surfaces.  River Road is a mess.

2 minutes ago, IrishRob17 said:

 

Jack Black looks terrible

thank you for asking.  my summer was great.  it was one insane weather event after another.  had a good time doing lightning photography.  the dew points were horrible but ultimately a necessary evil to enable the storms we got to see.

on the downside, many of my posts this summer received weenies.  i will not forget such grave insults.  revenge will be taken on the offenders in alphabetical order.