Origin of Purple Heart; End Game for Hurricane Felicia August 7, 2009

Badge For Military Merit

On This Date in History:

The first United States medal “for military merit” ever given to enlisted men was created by none other than George Washington  On this date in 1782. General George Washington established what was known as the Badge For Military Merit.   The badge consisted of a silk heart stitched on a purple background as was to be awarded for “any singularly meritorious action.”  The first recepients on August 7, 1782 were Sgts. Elijah Churchill, William Brown and Daniel Bissel.  Recipients of the  award could go through any checkpoint of guards or sentinels without challenge.  The Badge for Military Merit is only known to have been given to  these three individuals.

The whole thing was largely forgotten for 150 years until Army Chief of Staff Charles Summerall tried to get Congress to re-establish the award in 1927.  I guess he had no clout because nothing was done until his successor, General Douglas MacArthur took his place an in 1931.  Congress established the “Purple Heart”  shortly after MacAurthur became Chief of Staff, partially in recognition of Washington’s 200th birthday.  It consists of a gold bust of Washington on a purple ribbon. Unlike the original award, the modern “Purple Heart”   is awarded to any soldier who is killed or wounded in action or for those who suffer maltreatment as a POW.

Felicia forecast track 8pm EDT 8/6/09

Hurricane Felicia:  If for some reason you are looking for hurricane action, you have to look in the Pacific.  The Atlantic has been quiet..almost completely quiet.  Felicia had been a robust hurricane and is still pretty formidable as it moves closer to the Hawaiian Islands.  In the satellite image, you will note two cyclones.  The weaker one is the dying tropical storm Enrique which is in colder waters and encountering unfavorable upper level winds.  Felicia will stay in a decent environment for another day or so but then get a short period of slightly cooler water, but more importantly, upper level winds that should chop it up pretty good. Therefore, the forecast calls for a tropical storm brushing the Hawaiian Islands in a few days.  Don’t cancel your vacations.  Here is the discussion from my old bowling buddy, Dr. Jack Beven.

HURRICANE FELICIA DISCUSSION NUMBER  14
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL   EP082009
800 PM PDT THU AUG 06 2009

FELICIA HAS CHANGED LITTLE IN ORGANIZATION OVER THE PAST SEVERAL
HOURS….WITH A WELL-DEFINED EYE AND EYEWALL CLOUD TOPS COLDER
THAN -70C IN SOME AREAS.  SATELLITE INTENSITY ESTIMATES ARE 115 KT
FROM TAFB AND SAB…AND THAT IS THE INITIAL INTENSITY FOR THIS
ADVISORY.  THE CIRRUS OUTFLOW IS GOOD IN THE WESTERN SEMICIRCLE AND
FAIR ELSEWHERE.

THE INITIAL MOTION IS 300/10.  FELICIA IS ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE
MID/UPPER-LEVEL SUBTROPICAL RIDGE…WITH A LARGE LOW-LEVEL RIDGE
DOMINATING THE AREA NORTH AND WEST OF THE CYCLONE.  WATER VAPOR
IMAGERY SHOWS AN UPPER-LEVEL LOW NEAR 23N153W.   THE DYNAMICAL
MODELS FORECAST THE LOW TO MOVE SLOWLY WESTWARD AND STRENGTHEN…
CAUSING A BREAK IN THE MID/UPPER-LEVEL RIDGE EAST OF HAWAII AND A
MID-LEVEL RIDGE TO DEVELOP NEAR THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS.  THE MOST
LIKELY RESULT OF THIS EVOLUTION IS THAT AFTER 48 HR THE MID/UPPER-
LEVEL CIRCULATION OF FELICIA WOULD HAVE ITS WESTWARD MOTION
BLOCKED…WHILE THE LOW-LEVEL EASTERLY WINDS PUSHES THE LOW-LEVEL
CENTER WESTWARD.  THIS WOULD CAUSE FELICIA TO SHEAR APART AND THE
REMAINING LOW-LEVEL CENTER TO MOVE GENERALLY WESTWARD.  THE
DYNAMICAL MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT WITH THIS SCENARIO…
ALTHOUGH WITH SOME SPREAD.  THE GLOBAL MODELS…GFS…NOGAPS…
UKMET…AND ECMWF…ARE ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE GUIDANCE
ENVELOPE…WHILE THE HIGH-RESOLUTION HURRICANE MODELS…GFDL…
HWRF…AND GFDN…ARE ON THE LEFT SIDE.  THE NEW FORECAST TRACK IS
SIMILAR TO THE PREVIOUS ADVISORY…WITH A LITTLE MORE SOUTHWARD
MOTION AFTER 72 HR OUT OF RESPECT FOR THE HIGH-RESOLUTION MODELS.
THE TRACK IS NEAR THE CENTER OF THE GUIDANCE ENVELOPE.

FELICIA IS CURRENTLY IN A LIGHT SHEAR ENVIRONMENT…AND THIS SHOULD
CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT 48 HR OR SO.  DURING THAT TIME…THE CYCLONE
SHOULD WEAKEN AS IT MOVES OVER PROGRESSIVELY COOLER SEA SURFACE
TEMPERATURES.  BETWEEN 48-72 HR…VERTICAL WIND SHEAR IS FORECAST TO
INCREASE AS FELICIA ENCOUNTERS THE WEATHER SYSTEMS DESCRIBED ABOVE
AND ASSOCIATED UPPER-LEVEL WESTERLIES.  THE DYNAMICAL MODELS SHOW
THE MID/UPPER-LEVEL CIRCULATION OF FELICIA DISSIPATING AS THIS
HAPPENS…WHICH OCCURS EVEN THOUGH THE FORECAST TRACK MOVES THE
CYCLONE OVER WARMER SSTS DURING THAT TIME.  THE INTENSITY FORECAST
FOLLOWS THIS SCENARIO AND CALLS FOR FELICIA TO CONTINUE WEAKENING
AFTER 48 HR.  WARMER SSTS AND LESS-HOSTILE ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS
ARE FORECAST SOUTH OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS…AND IF FELICIA MOVES
TO THE LEFT OF THE FORECAST TRACK THE AFTER-48 HR WEAKENING COULD
BE SLOWER THAN CURRENTLY FORECAST.

FORECAST POSITIONS AND MAX WINDS

INITIAL      07/0300Z 16.9N 133.6W   115 KT
12HR VT     07/1200Z 17.8N 134.9W   105 KT
24HR VT     08/0000Z 18.7N 136.6W    90 KT
36HR VT     08/1200Z 19.4N 138.9W    75 KT
48HR VT     09/0000Z 19.8N 141.5W    65 KT
72HR VT     10/0000Z 20.0N 147.0W    45 KT
96HR VT     11/0000Z 19.5N 152.5W    35 KT
120HR VT     12/0000Z 19.0N 157.5W    25 KT

$$
FORECASTER BEVEN

Weather Bottom Line:  It’s not quite official yet, but an NWS preliminary report indicates July 2009 was the coldest on record for the Ohio Valley.  That region includes 9 states.  So, we weren’t alone.  If you missed it, July 2009 was the first time in history that Louisville did not record a 90 degree day. 

***

Henry's Ark is great fun for everyone

Twas a good day on Thursday. It was warm but humidity levels were low. Snow White and I visited Henry’s Ark, she liked my birthday present and she wore it for her birthday dinner at the Tumbleweed on the river.  We watched the people sculling and are planning on joining them soon.  It was very comfortable with all of the windows open.  But, that will soon change.  Friday should be similar to Thursday but I suspect we’ll have some high clouds by the afternoon as a warmfront approaches from the southwest.  Its not out of the question for a stray shower Friday night with the passage of the warm front but right now it looks like there just won’t be enough moisture to do anything.  But, the warm front will make its presence felt over the weekend.  For the first time in many weeks, we finally get a familiar summer pattern with high pressure building in the Southeast.  That will give us a southerly flow.  Temperatures will climb to the low 90′s and humidity levels will toughen up quite a bit.  It does not appear that another front comes down to give us real rain chances until next Wednesday.  The other thing that this just might do is create a larger scale pattern that may make tropical cyclone formation and retention more possible in the Gulf and Caribbean.

Mae West, Jack London, JFK, John Hanson…Ax Falls At The Weather Channel…Not a Good Day November 22, 2008

NWS Forecast For Saturday Morning Lows..Betcha the Airport Ulitmately Reports Something Beside the Teens, Unlike Everyone Else

Bad Things Happen to Good People

the weather channel got bought by nbc by $3.5 billion. nbc has been in the midst of the of its “green week” and to celebrate, they have cut 10% of the jobs at the weather channel, including their “forecast earth” segment, which focuses on global warming. fan favorite dave schwartz also reportedly is out of a job. here are the details from the washington post.
i met dave scwartz a few weeks ago when he was in town for the national weather association conference. he was every bit of a good guy as he seems to be on tv. my guess is that viewers will not be happy. as for forecast earth, i suspect that viewers will be happy to get more weather and less special programs

1121 18Z mesoeta has low 20s Sat. AM...probably not cold enough except at the airport where no one lives

Snow White and I went out to Henry’s Ark late in the day. It was cold (as forecast) and we

Zonk(Half Zebra Half Donkey)Denied Carrots By Bully Zebra Hopes to Stay Warm

thought that the animals hadn’t had too many visitors. Sure enough, we were greeted warmly by the burros at the gate as we entered with our bags of carrots. The zebras are funny because there is one bully who stomps his foot, puts his ears back and bares his teeth, demanding a carrot. He also chases away the other guys but Snow White distracted the bad guy while I got carrots to the others. The porcupines have a baby and the three of them like their carrots as did the bunny rabbits and Lady Di, whom I think is a Bactrian Camel because she has two humps. There are lots of baby goats, two of which we saw climbed up on a downed tree limb. Goats in the trees…who’d of thunk it? Anyway, go and visit and support Henry’s Ark, it’s a great experience for the whole family. The animals get lonely in the winter. And this sure seems like winter. As a big fat high comes over us, look for the mercury to fall into the teens overnight. Saturday will have similar temperatures as Friday. While we warm up on Sunday to the low to mid 50′s, that is still a hair below the seasonal averages. The week ahead still is cool but not quite as cold as we’ve seen. Thanksgiving still looks to feature highs in the low 50′s. Rain Sunday night and Monday.

On This Date in History: This is a pretty lousy day in history. On November 22, 1963 President John F. Kennedy became the fourth American president to fall to an assassin. The first was Abraham Lincoln in 1865, followed by James A. Garfield in 1881 and then William McKinley in 1901. Let us hope that this list remains at four forever.

NOT the 1st President

The man whom some consider the first President of the United States died on this day in 1783. John Hanson was the first president of the Continental Congress under the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation came into being while he was the President of the Congress in session from 1781 to 1782, during which time General Washington was defeating the British at Yorktown in October 1781. Calling Hanson the first president is pretty nonsensical. He was more like the prime minister. The separate, executive position of president didnt even exist until the Constitution in 1789. General Washington served as the nation’s first president from 1789 to 1797.

Socialist In Name Only?

Novelist Jack London died on this date in 1916. He was just 40 years old and died of kidney disease derived from unknown origins. One fairly reliable source claims that reports that London was an alcoholic are unfounded. What is telling though about London is that he was an avowed socialist yet, he spent a huge wad of cash on a huge house in California. True socialist. The bourgeoisie gets all of the money and luxury while the peasants and proletariat share the rest. In theory thats not how socialism is supposed to work but in practice that’s usually the result. A small group of elite “haves” preaching hypocrisy to the masses, the “have-nots.”

Wild Outfit Even by Today's Standards

Mae West died on this date in 1980. I normally don’t do this but I’m linking a page from Wikipedia for you to look at if you like. It’s usually not a reliable source of information but in this case, it will do. If the information is accurate, then you will find just how controversial that she was regarding the content of her career and early problems she caused for those who wanted to keep some moral limits in the entertainment business. Her famous line of “is that a pistol in your pocket or are you just happy to see me” was blurted out by her when she arrived at the LA train station and a policeman was there to escort her. Later, she used the line in a film but somehow the line got assigned to her way before that. She had other lines and a pretty risque reputation. Here is a list of supposed Mae West quotes. She died at age 87 after a series of strokes, but she earlier had hidden her true age. When she appeared with WC Fields in My LIttle Chickadee, she was 47, which was a surprise to me.

Let’s see…what other lousy things happened on this date…in 1972 the first B-52 was shot down in Vietnam and in 1950 there was a terrible collision of commuter trains in New York.

I don’t know about you, but November 22 seems like a day we should all climb in our beds and pull the cover over our heads.