Hi, Dear Reader. It’s late morning here in New Hometown, Florida, on Sunday, June 20, 2021. It is already quite sultry outside; the current temperature is 83˚F (28˚C) under partly sunny skies. With humidity at 57% and the wind blowing from the south-southwest at 7 MPH (12 KM/H), the heat index is 90˚F (32˚C). Today, the skies will be mostly cloudy and the high will be 91˚F (33˚C). Tonight, we can expect mostly cloudy skies and the low will be 78˚F (25˚C). The Air Quality Index (AQI) is 55, or Moderate.
Today I woke up to the news that Claudette lost its tropical storm status and recategorized as a tropical depression.
. This should be somewhat of a relief for folks in Georgia and the Carolinas, but it still means that much of the Southeast will experience a wet, windy, and not-too-festive Father’s Day 2021.
Per the National Hurricane Center in Miami, here is the latest public advisory on Tropical Depression Claudette:
TROPICAL DEPRESSION CLAUDETTE FORECAST/ADVISORY NUMBER 11
NWS NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL032021
0900 UTC SUN JUN 20 2021
CHANGES IN WATCHES AND WARNINGS WITH THIS ADVISORY…
A TROPICAL STORM WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THE COAST OF NORTH
CAROLINA FROM LITTLE RIVER INLET TO DUCK…INCLUDING PAMLICO AND
ALBEMARLE SOUNDS.
A TROPICAL STORM WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THE COAST OF SOUTH
CAROLINA FROM SOUTH SANTEE RIVER TO LITTLE RIVER INLET.
SUMMARY OF WATCHES AND WARNINGS IN EFFECT…
A TROPICAL STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR…
* LITTLE RIVER INLET TO DUCK…NORTH CAROLINA
* PAMLICO AND ALBEMARLE SOUNDS
A TROPICAL STORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR…
* SOUTH SANTEE RIVER…SOUTH CAROLINA TO LITTLE RIVER INLET
A TROPICAL STORM WARNING MEANS THAT TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS ARE
EXPECTED SOMEWHERE WITHIN THE WARNING AREA…IN THIS CASE WITHIN
24 TO 36 HOURS.
A TROPICAL STORM WATCH MEANS THAT TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS ARE
POSSIBLE WITHIN THE WATCH AREA…IN THIS CASE WITHIN THE NEXT 24 TO
36 HOURS.
INTERESTS ELSEWHERE ACROSS THE CAROLINAS SHOULD MONITOR THE
PROGRESS OF THIS SYSTEM.
TROPICAL DEPRESSION CENTER LOCATED NEAR 33.3N 85.8W AT 20/0900Z
POSITION ACCURATE WITHIN 30 NM
PRESENT MOVEMENT TOWARD THE EAST-NORTHEAST OR 60 DEGREES AT 11 KT
ESTIMATED MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE 1006 MB
MAX SUSTAINED WINDS 25 KT WITH GUSTS TO 35 KT.
WINDS AND SEAS VARY GREATLY IN EACH QUADRANT. RADII IN NAUTICAL
MILES ARE THE LARGEST RADII EXPECTED ANYWHERE IN THAT QUADRANT.
REPEAT…CENTER LOCATED NEAR 33.3N 85.8W AT 20/0900Z
AT 20/0600Z CENTER WAS LOCATED NEAR 33.0N 86.6W
As a Florida native who has lived through more tropical storms, hurricanes, and tropical weather events than I would have preferred, I am glad that Claudette did not hit the New Hometown area directly. We wouldn’t have been prepared for it, and even a few days without electricity, Internet access, and enough hurricane supplies for six persons and a dog would have been nightmarish. We are 20 days into meteorological summer and a day or two away from astronomical summer, and we have already had a few days when the heat index exceeds 100˚F/38˚C. Imagine how stifling the heat would feel in a house where The Caregiver sets the thermostat at 71˚F/21˚C, especially in a situation where the power is out for three or more days.
That having been said, I hope that my friends in Georgia and the Carolinas are not affected too severely by the effects of Claudette.
This weekend has been dull and uneventful, at least as far as life here is concerned. I watched a couple of documentaries on Amazon Prime Video and Netflix, and I read a chapter of The Napoleonic Wars: A Global History as well. And, of course, I wasted a lot of time on Facebook, since I have absolutely no one to talk to here.
I had hoped that UPS would miraculously expedite my package with the Indiana Jones: 4-Movie Collection box set with the 4K UHD Blu-rays of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and deliver it ahead of time.
In theory, based on the time that the package arrived at the UPS facility in Lakeland, Florida, it wasn’t totally inconceivable that my Indy box set could have been delivered by 6 PM yesterday. And yet, it is still scheduled for an early afternoon delivery tomorrow.
Why the delay? Lakeland is a 40-minute drive from here, and the package was scanned there early in the morning, so it could have been hauled to New Hometown for a late afternoon delivery yesterday. But when I checked the tracking information on My UPS Choice, I saw that the package is still in Lakeland. I’m guessing that the delivery schedule is based on how many drivers/vehicles UPS has on hand for our area, compounded by the fact that today is Father’s Day,
Oh, well. Tomorrow is not that far away, I suppose.
Well, that’s all the news from my world – such as it is – that I have to share, so I’ll close for now. Stay safe, stay healthy, and I’ll catch you on the sunny side of things.
