Hurricane Season Begins - Kind of

Tropical Storm Alma has formed...in the Eastern Pacific. This is not the start of Atlantic Hurricane season however, but there is a minute possibility that this could cross over into the Caribbean and become a Tropical Depression...again not likely though.

June 1st though is the official start of the Atlantic Hurricane Season, meaning that the National Hurricane Center will start releasing twice-daily updates regarding potential development. I'll finally get to wear my new hurricane belt from Nola Couture "in season"...haha.

June 1st is also the date of the Puerto Rico Primary. Polls close at 3 PM AST/3 PM EDT. Clinton apparently is a little ahead in the polls, campaigning for equal representation for the island (hey, what do they need, they're already coming out with a "state" quarter.

Finally, the Weather Channel debuts in HD on June 2....PLEASE Comcast have that be the day you debut the channel on your HD lineup...I am we are only a couple miles away from the studios!!!

General Update

We had some strong storms move through the area yesteday, including one apparent tornado in Cherokee County, between Woodstock and Holly Springs. Central Fulton County was under a tornado warning at one point at the tail end of rush hour, but we did not get any damage, and in fact hardly got any rain at all from the storm. But GEEZ, this is like the 5th tornado this season (since February) to hit the Atlanta metro area...others have hit Carroll County, south Atlanta, downtown Atlanta and northwest Atlanta suburbs.

Speaking of rain, the governor got a bill passed saying that his rules superseded those of local municipalities. What that means for me is that now I can hand-water my yard for up to 25 minutes on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursday (because I have an odd address) as long as it is after midnight and before 10 AM. In addition, because I planted new landscaping and passed the online test, I can water with a sprinkler my newly planted lenten roses and hydrangeas. Now I just have to get my timer working again since I took out the batteries last September.

Big Brown won the Preakness Stakes easily, so he's looking very good for the Belmont (which I will be in Charlottesville for and therefore have to find a television set to view it). I was at Country Fair tailgating at the time, but we found a small bar behind a Chevron Station on Pryor Road (no it was not sketchy) so we got to drink a beer, use the bathroom, and watch the horse race. Good times. Country fair itself was okay. The tailgating was excellent however the concert was not that good...Pat Green sang only "corporate", not Texas, songs, and Travis Tritt seemed to sing only sad songs.

We're off to Richmond/Deltaville/Williamsburg/Charlottesville this weekend for 2 weddings and a day on the Chesapeake Bay/Rappahannock River with my folks. The weather is supposed to be beautiful!

Finally nothing in the tropics to report yet, however the season starts 1 week from Sunday.

Tornado watch for NW Georgia; Almost hurricane season

There is a tornado watch posted for northwest Georgia, as close as Bartow, Polk & Haralson counties, until 7 PM EDT. So far there has been nothing of merit, but there are potential tornadoes that are rolling through the northern and southeastern suburbs (including Vestavia, Hoover and Homewood) of Birmingham/Jefferson County, Alabama. We'll keep an eye on this one...fortunately I've got my trusty phone which sends me the text messages of potential severe weather. I'm sure Action 2 and 11 Alive will have everything on in high def should it come to that (let's hope it doesn't).

Other than that the new drought maps came out this week and they are about the same, putting us in the 2nd highest drought category still, while the SE suburbs are in the next lower category. It's going to be a long summer and I can see my grass starting to dry out. In addition, it is getting hot enough that the annual ryegrass is dying out. Funny thing that less than a month ago we were talking about snow!

Also, I watched the Derby even though I was dog-tired. I'm excited that Big Brown won because I think he has a real shot to win the Triple Crown, but I'll be excited enough if he can first win the Preakness. I think Eight Belles' death was horrible, except I think the only "fault" lies in how horses are bred these days. It was not the fact she raced with the guys, it was not the track and it was not the jockey.

Kentucky Oaks Day

It's the Oaks today, and I'll be traveling to Athens, Georgia tonight to see my sister graduate from the University of Georgia.

In Churchill Downs weather news, things look okay, except that there is a Tornado Watch for areas of western Kentucky, as close as 80 miles from th Downs. Hopefully there will be no storms (or damage) there.

We had a frost advisory this week, that was nuts.

Tomorrow is Derby and I am thinking either Big Brown or Court Vision...We'll have until tomorrow at 6:11 PM EDT to decide.