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(*Chip Merlin’s Note–Rocco Calaci has been a noted meteorology expert witness in the Katrina Legal Wars. Click here to read his previous guest blogs)

Tropical Storm / Hurricane / Tropical Storm Isaac is gone, but it generated numerous tornadoes along the East Coast; from Florida to the Carolinas, in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. In my area of Northwest Florida, there were many public reports of tornadoes on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Unfortunately, the large majority of these tornadoes were never reported to the proper authorities. This creates a huge problem for everyone.

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Continue Reading Tornadoes, Tornadoes, Tornadoes

Guessing where a hurricane is heading is not an exact science. Those predictions are much better today than in the past due to better hurricane modeling. Via television, everybody can get constant updates on The Weather Channel. As Tropical Storm Bonnie approaches the oil drenched areas of the Gulf of Mexico, I wanted to share a few Internet sites I visit to quickly get an idea about what is going on and, if I have time, some fun.…

Continue Reading Hurricane Watching on the Internet

(*Chip Merlin’s Note–Rocco Calaci has been a noted meteorology expert witness in the Katrina Legal Wars. After meeting him at a recent FAPIA Convention, I invited him to write a series of guest blogs. Click here to read his previous guest blogs)

Why
Rocco Calaci

Why do people forget that the atmosphere reacts to weather changes at all levels besides the standard heights of 1000, 925, 850, 700, 500, 300, 250 and 200 millibars? If someone doesn’t evaluate the entire column of air at all levels, how can an accurate analysis be performed? How can you trust algorithmic results from incomplete data?…

Continue Reading Rocco Calaci Questions Current Models Used to Determine Wind Damage

(*Chip Merlin’s Note–Rocco Calaci has been a noted meteorology expert witness in the Katrina Legal Wars. After meeting him at a recent FAPIA Convention, I invited him to write a series of guest blogs. Click here to read his previous guest blogs)

We Are Using the Wrong Ruler
Rocco Calaci

Whenever a hurricane strikes a community, we obsess over the maximum wind speed and storm surge depth. In my last blog, I mentioned many other weather elements within a hurricane that can cause damages. Now I want to speak my mind on how we need to look at hurricane damage from another perspective.…

Continue Reading A Call To Reassess How We Gauge Damage From Hurricane Winds

(*Chip Merlin’s Note–Rocco Calaci has been a noted meteorology expert witness in the Katrina Legal Wars. After meeting him at a recent FAPIA Convention, I invited him to write a series of guest blogs. Click here to read Part 1 of this guest blog)

Is a hurricane only wind and water? (Part 2)
(Rocco Calaci)

Besides mesocyclones, there were numerous microbursts during Hurricane Ike. A microburst can best be described as strong downward (vertical) winds that result from a strong thunderstorm cell collapsing. The outflowing wind pattern is omni-directional, creating an elongated horizontal vortice along the leading edge of the winds.

This diagram obtained from the Internet (generated by the 45th Weather Squadron, USAF) depicts the wind pattern of a microburst as it hits the ground.…

Continue Reading Part 2: Hidden Causes of Hurricane Damage: Meteorologist Rocco Calaci Explains That Hurricanes Are More Than Just High Winds And Water

*Chip Merlin’s Note–Rocco Calaci has been a noted meteorology expert witness in the Katrina Legal Wars. After meeting him at a recent FAPIA Convention, I invited him to write a series of guest blogs.
Continue Reading Hidden Causes of Hurricane Damage: Meteorologist Rocco Calaci Explains That Hurricanes Are More Than Just High Winds And Water