Issue 36, September 6, 2015
There’s always a lot of ‘talk’ as we enter the peak of hurricane season. Some meteorologists will indicate that the worst is coming every time there’s a named storm. But that’s done in the name of ‘public awareness’…and ratings. Sure enough, there have been some disturbances out there this year, which received our attention. But alas: The ‘Little Boy’ is here, and he’s growing.
Every Floridian knows about El Nino. NOAA has predicted that this year’s El Nino could be the strongest since 1997. It cycles approximately every 5 years (the weaker years are called La Nina). It was first recognized in the 1950’s and was named so because it developed around Christmastime, thus ‘Little Boy’ or Christ Child. It starts in the Eastern Pacific Ocean; under ‘preferred’ conditions, weather patterns head west to the South Pacific, fulfilling their tropical needs.
However, when a strong El Nino takes hold, the winds shift to the east, dumping rain on the western coast of the Americas, causing mudslides and other nasties to the normally arid landscape. Thus, it also starves Indonesia and northern Australia of their rainy seasons which lead to devastating wildfires.
El Nino was blamed on a series of meteorological events in 1997 which culminated in the deaths of 23,000 people worldwide and caused $45 billion in damages (NOAA). One can easily determine that El Nino is bad for the world.
While El Nino may be bad for the world, it’s great for those of us on the eastern seaboard! Those strong El Nino winds shear off virtually any chance for a hurricane to survive as it approaches us. Of course storms still develop, but once they encounter El Nino…well, just look what happened to Danny and Erika.
But as 1999 President Crump Kirby likes to point out in a number of my weekly messages…‘what has any of this got to do with SBMC?!’
Well Crump, El Nino helps when SBMC plans great outdoor fall events like:
–The NJROTC Charity Clay Shoot on October 3rd
—Jaxtoberfest (coordinating with The Buzz Magazine/CFM) on October 9th/10th
–the SBMC Jaguars vs. Texans tailgate party (and game) on October 18th
–the SBMC Salute/Warrior City project at the Jax Landing on November 7th
–our all-new SBMC float in the Veterans Day Parade on November 11th.
—it can even help with our member’s ingress/egress at our weekly meetings.
Yes, El Nino helps us to promote the material, civic and social improvement and betterment for all of Duval County in general, and specifically to promote the welfare and advancement of the Southside of Jacksonville.
So, make your plans now to help support SBMC in our volunteer, social, and fund-raising efforts!
Get Involved!!
I’d like to thank Channel 4 meteorologist Richard Nunn for his contribution on this article, but he didn’t respond to my text, so I’m not.
