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NASA has posted a simulation of the 2017 hurricane season based on satellite data and modeling. It clearly shows how dust, sea salt and smoke combine and interact as the storms form. The eastern Pacific had a fair number of storms develop off the coast of Mexico, more than I recall, considering we had a relatively low key hurricane season here around the island chain.
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12772
“Facts fall from the poetic observer as ripe seeds.” -Henry Thoreau
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves
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Thanks for that, HOTPE, it's quite captivating. What I thought was interesting is that it seems a couple of the Atlantic storm systems seemed to make it over Central America and create new storms in the Eastern Pacific.
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couple of the Atlantic storm systems seemed to make it over Central America
I watched the video again, and you're right, there were quite a number of weather events that passed through Mexico, west of the Yucatan Peninsula where the land mass is slightly narrower. I checked a map of Mexico, and that same location shows a break in the Central American mountain ranges there. The lower elevation combined with the narrower land area might create a pressure relief valve for weather systems, especially those in the Gulf of Mexico as they spin west. Must be windy there!
“Facts fall from the poetic observer as ripe seeds.” -Henry Thoreau
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves
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HOTPE @ 18:53:56, 11/21/17-
Good stuff, thank you.
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HOTPE - I think it was Iselle that had its center go through the saddle between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa before it sort of reformed west of the Big Island and hit Kauwai. So, not unprecedented but was surprised to see the same thing apparently happen over Central America. But I didn't know the geography so well there until you pointed it out. Interesting stuff. Thanks.
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PS. You can also see why the secondary site for the TMT, the Canary Islands, is subject to Sahara sands above the site. This has been known about for decades. I learned about it as a student when it was first discovered by the observatories there (the scientists using those telescopes found that they were detecting small particles from the Sahara rather than dust in space), but nice to see it in an actual video.
