Hurricane models in motion

[Botnst]

This is cool.

http://flhurricane.com/modelanimator.php?storm=5&Year=2006

[t walgamuth]

after looking at that and the fact that you think it is cool, i am beginning to unerstand why i dont understand half of what you post.

obviously our brains operate in very different ways!

this is not intended as a slam at all. just an observation.

cheers

tom w

[Botnst]

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

after looking at that and the fact that you think it is cool, i am beginning to unerstand why i dont understand half of what you post.

obviously our brains operate in very different ways!

this is not intended as a slam at all. just an observation.

cheers

tom w

I understand. I would suggest that it is a facility developed from years of practice, like anything else. I can't play a guitar and I wish i could, but if I had practiced for the previous 30 years I could probably get something melodious out of the box by now. In a similar vein, I spend my life immersed with information trying to detect and explain trends. So I look at that website and think it is cool the way they took the daily prognostications of different hurricane models and display them.

The models are based on different assumptions: Some are statistical models, some are physical models, and some are a mixture or combination of statistics and physics. The result is a bouquet of predicted paths at each time interval. I like the way the animation moves squid-like across the Caribbean and up into Florida. Sometimes the arms are wide-spread, seemingly grasping widely for a hand-hold. Other times all of the arms seem pointed at the same feature. I wish I knew enough about meteorology to understand why the predictions diverge and converge--what are the underlying forcing factors?

B

[t walgamuth]

maybe i should take another look.

you make it sound enticing.

tom w

[Larry Delor]

I wish the arms would flow smoother, more fluid like. I'd enjoy it more that way...besides, weather is fluid, so it would only be natural.

[Botnst]

Originally Posted by Larry Delor

I wish the arms would flow smoother, more fluid like. I'd enjoy it more that way...besides, weather is fluid, so it would only be natural.

It's the way they compute the trajectories--interval rather than continuous. A real hotshot with morphing software could create multiple intermediate plots and make it appear less herky-jerky.

anyway, I agree with you. Whuppin' around a fistful of limp spaghetti would look better than stiff spaghetti.