Weather!!

[j44ke]

Check out the weather radar for the northeast right now (6:45EST) - HUGE thunderstorm on its way. I don't think I have seen one that big on the screen before. Almost the size of Pennsylvania. It may break up when it hits the temperature zones over Manhattan and the ocean, but it looks like a doozy. NJ is going to get pounded if the front edge stays as intense as it is now.

NWS Enhanced Radar Mosaic: Northeast Sector Loop

[Too Tall]

Check out the weather radar for the northeast right now (6:45EST) - HUGE thunderstorm on its way. I don't think I have seen one that big on the screen before. Almost the size of Pennsylvania. It may break up when it hits the temperature zones over Manhattan and the ocean, but it looks like a doozy. NJ is going to get pounded if the front edge stays as intense as it is now.

NWS Enhanced Radar Mosaic: Northeast Sector Loop

Don't take this personally.
Biteme.com

[j44ke]

Don't take this personally.
Biteme.com

Hah! I should call you Captain Ahab maybe?

[Too Tall]

Hah! I should call you Captain Ahab maybe?

Depends how torrential this mess is. We've been without power for 5 days last go round, 2 large trees down and the hand of g-d smooshed my prize cut leaf Japanese Maple which I'm heartbroken over. I'm not super excited about this.

[j44ke]

Seems to have broken up over east NJ. We are getting a pretty thorough soaking. Man, that storm looked like a b-tch though. One big red gash from VT to PA. Got dark around 6:00PM.

[chasea]

Hitched a ride back to the city from Westchester. Proper southern rain there for a bit. You Yankees sure are silly drivers in this stuff.

[bcm119]

'tis the season for t-storms. There's a fair amount of confused frontal activity right now in the NE quarter of the US and there will likely be more. Last night's weather was related to a cold front pushing through if I recall correctly. They do rain themselves out usually.

Last night's line of weather was totally typical for July in the eastern US. Nothing I haven't seen for years. This is a current picture of frontal activity. I'm hoping for more weather today. We need the rain.

As for flying around them? My advice to those who travel is:

1. Fly in the mornings.
2. Fly direct whenever possible.
3. Don't show up at the airport at the last second.
4. Don't book 20 minute connections on Priceline on different, often competing airlines and expect the airlines to give a shit about you.
5. Buy lounge access. It's a way better place to spend time than in a gate area for a 200 person airplane and there are only 75 seats in the gate area.
6. The airlines don't get you hotels for weather irregularities. If you are going to be disrupted, have a list of hotels.

Connections get really, really screwed up in the afternoons. I fly from our hubs to the outstations a lot and we get delayed in the afternoons far more than we do in the mornings.

Last nights sensible weather turned out to be pretty typical for july in the NE, but the forecast parameters were pretty alarming... the CAPE values were close to 5000 in parts of jersey and eastern PA, with lifted indices of -9... you don't see that outside of the midwest/plains too often. It could have been a lot worse. The terrain and the ocean often saves the metro northeast from midwest style supercells.