A messy situation
Weather plays a pivotal role in disaster responses. As we witnessed with the Eyjafjallajökull volcano, wind patterns can disperse ash into the upper atmosphere causing severe travel disruptions. Modeling the ash cloud is an incredibly hard job to do with accuracy due to uncertainties in the ash plume itself and the limited predictability of the atmospheric flow. Likewise, winds have played a critical role in the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. High winds and waves in the days after the oil spill stymied cleanup efforts. Forecasted winds out of the south will continue to transport the oil slick slowly toward the coast of Louisiana.
This weekend’s weather in New England will be rapidly changing. On Saturday, a strong storm will bring showers and thunderstorms to the area. Any thunderstorms will have the potential to have powerful wind gusts as long as the sea breeze doesn’t interfere. Drier, cooler, and breezy weather will rule on Sunday.