Tropical Storm Ului (South Pacific Atlantic)

Solomon Islands Under Warnings for Category 4 Cyclone Ului

There are two powerful cyclones in the Southern Pacific Ocean this week, Tomas and Ului. Ului is a Category Four Cyclone on the Saffir-Simpson Scale and is affecting the Solomon Islands where warnings and watches have been posted today, March 15. NASA satellite data has confirmed that Ului is a strong cyclone with a wide reach.

Tropical cyclone warnings in the Solomon Islands are in effect for Rennell and Bellona, A tropical cyclone watch is in effect for the provinces of Guadalcanal, Makira, Central, Western, Malaita, Isabel and Choiseul, in addition to the Shortland Islands.

Missing in Action

Sorry guys but it has been a hell of a few weeks.

To start with I caught some weird bug which took over three weeks to lose - no voice for a week (I can hear you all cheering at that one), vomiting, headache and general weirdness. Anyway, that seems to have finally cleared but did leave me rather lethargic for another week.

Then elder son's partner whose baby was due 11 March started having contractions on the 3rd. Hospital said not enough to admit you, go home and see what happens. I spent the next week either with her, on the phone to her or taking her to the hospital. They kept saying "you are only 3cm dilated and the contractions are irregular, go home." Arrrgggghhhh.

Anyway, I took her to her weekly appointment on the 10th while son was working and we finally got a sensible midwife who laughed when she read the notes and did an internal. S has had 3 previous children and she was never dilated it was just the usual stretchiness from pushing out three babies. And the irregular contractions? No she had a UTI and they bought them on.

Back home again, although this midwife did say the baby was still about 4 cm away from being fully engaged and suggested S 'stomp' down some stairs. Must have worked because the next day her water broke so back to hospital.....lol.

Only little niggardly contractions so onto the drip to induce her. The contractions finally kicked in with a vengeance around 3.15 and by 3.25 she was ready to push and by 3.30 it was all over bar the singing!

I now have a cute little grandson - Brock William (William after S's grandfather and B's grandfather) - weighed in at 3.5kg (7lb 11oz) and length 51cm (20.5in). Came out screaming, with eyes open and I don't think he has shut them yet; too much to see. Mother and son both very well. She was home the next day.

So now I am going to try and catch up on missing sleep for the last two weeks and get my energy back after the previous 3 weeks......rotfl.

Oh yes, in case you were having withdrawal symptoms this is the latest picture of Abi.....lol!

Please leave a comment so I know you visited......you know how all bloggers love to read comments!!

Tropical Storm Tomas (Southern Pacific)

Tropical Storm Tomas Approaching Nadi This Weekend


Tropical Storm Tomas is on a southern track in the South Pacific Ocean, and residents of Nadi, Fiji will be watching it as it approaches the eastern side of the island late this weekend. A tropical cyclone alert is in effect for all of Fiji this weekend.

Nadi is located on the western side of the main island of Viti Levu, Fiji. Fiji Standard Time is 17 hours later than Eastern Standard Time.

NASA's Aqua satellite flew over Tomas from space and captured in infrared image from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument. The AIRS image on March 11 at 20:10 UTC (3:10 p.m. ET) showed a developing storm with a large cluster of high, cold (purple), strong thunderstorms around Tomas' center.

Tropical Storm Tomas had maximum sustained winds near 57 mph (50 knots) and it was located near 11.6 degrees South and 177.6 degrees West. Tropical storm force winds extend about 150 nautical miles from the center of the storm, making Tomas about 300 miles wide in diameter.

Tropical Storm Hubert (Southern Indian Ocean)

Hubert has maximum sustained winds near 39 mph (35 knots) and is moving west-southwest near 6 mph (5 knots). At 10 a.m. ET (1500 UTC) on March 10, Hubert was located about 160 nautical miles southeast of the capital city of Antananarivo, Madagascar near 20.9 South and 48.8 East.

As Hubert continues moving inland over the next two days, forecasts for the capital city and other areas in south central Madagascar will continue to experience periods of moderate to heavy rainfall, and gusty winds.

Tropical Cyclone 90S

Tropical Cyclone Formation Likely Near Madagascar

On March 9 the low, currently named "90S" is located near 20.1 South latitude and 50.8 East longitude is approximately 225 nautical miles east-southeast of the capital city of Antananarivo (which is located 145 miles inland from the east coast). The low's winds are estimated to be between 28- 34 mph (25 to 30 knots). The system is moving south-southeastward at 5 mph (4 knots). Minimum sea level pressure is estimated to be near 1000 millibars.

dust blowing off the Saharan Desert toward the Canary Islands.

Each summer, sandstorms lift millions of tons of dust from the Sahara, carrying plumes of it off the West Coast of Africa and over the Atlantic Ocean.

Tropical Storm Sarah (Southern Pacific)

Tropical Storm Sarah's winds peaked around 39 mph (35 knots) on Saturday, February 27. Thirty-nine mph is the lowest maximum sustained wind speed a cyclone can have to be classified as a tropical storm. At 10 a.m. ET on Saturday, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center issued its final warning on the system.

It was about 555 miles east-southeast of Pago Pago, American Samoa at that time, near 17.4 South latitude and 162.5 East longitude. Sarah/17P was still moving at the slow pace it maintained the previous week, at 4 mph (3 knots).