Saturday, August 27, 2011

I should probably be blogging this

Actually, I should probably be doing work. And packing. This is more fun, so I'll go with this!

I have been constantly apologizing to everyone around me because of my constant giddiness and excitement over the impending arrival of Hurricane Irene. A disclaimer is thrown out immediately with any mention of the storm. It's usually a phrase like "I'm a meteorologist so don't judge me" or something so that people know I'm a scientist, not an asshole. I'm so curious to see what will happen in New York City during a hurricane or even a tropical storm.

The one-two punch of being a Floridian and a meteorologist makes me the go-to person for all hurricane related inquiries. My shift at work yesterday was spent constantly talking to both tables and coworkers about the storm. What did I learn from these conversations? Mostly that people up here don't readily know the words "storm surge" or "rain bands". Floridians tend to learn about this over and over again with each impending tropical season, but up here, it's never a concern. People would ask me about the risks associated with the storm and what they should do to prepare. They don't know how to prepare up here! I spouted off all of the necessary supplies that should be acquire and precautions that should be taken without a second of hesitation. Their wonderment matched my own as I could hardly believe they didn't just know from childhood. Then I have to remind myself that when the snow starts falling, I'm a bit clueless about that (though, less so than the average Floridian given my meteorological training).

It has been a while since I have been able to bring out all of my random hurricane fun facts. Maybe I shouldn't use "fun" there. Eh, I'll go with it. People seem to be impressed, but I always emphasize that I grew up learning about tropical systems for practical reasons and that they're one of the reasons why I went into meteorology in the first place. Hurricanes are also how I got into studying climate. I wrote a paper looking at hurricane frequency and landfall return times in a historical climatology context. I won't go into any more detail than that.

Really, I could gush about this all day. My poor roommates have to put up with me. Well, I guess it's a trade off for being super prepared and me knowing all of the preparations. We all scouted out acquiring snacks. We put them all into our designated snack box.
This photo also includes the puzzle I got for us to do if/when the power goes out. Also, the mixers to go with the insane amount of alcohol we have in this apartment that should be consumed prior to the move.

As expected, my parents are concerned, but not nearly as concerned as the parents of many of my friends who did not grow up in the tropics. She approved of my hurricane prep and my declaration that the party would be at our house. She wants constant updates on what is going on. In response to her most recent questioning, I sent her this photo of my current activity.
She responded as classy as ever with similar sentiments and an update on her weather (it's 91 degrees there, in case you were wondering).

I should go do more prep (aka I need a shower). I'll probably post more later. Because this is so exciting!

1 comment:

  1. O Hurricane Parties. Also, totally jelly that we did not get any hurricanes this year. Also, I love other mommy.

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