Thursday, July 28, 2005

Interesting Weather the Other Day

Do I smell the sea?

That was some kinda weather we had last Tuesday.

We had to go up to Denver for a meeting. Got up early and as we were getting dressed, the clothes were already dripping wet. This is Pueblo. This sort of stuff doesn’t happen. Right?

Then, going outside, I distinctly noticed the aroma of rotting vegetation. Smells I had not remembered since some trips to the Panamanian jungle at the behest of our rich Uncle Sam. Yes. It had been raining, but you don’t get that kind of aroma from just a light overnight rain.

Didn’t think much of it. Just enjoyed the interesting memories. And we left for the meeting. Noticed a lot of moisture all along the way north.

The meeting over, we started back. When we got south of Colorado Springs, things got ‘interesting’. It was raining cats and dogs most of the way. And in places they were being pitched by the barrel. Serious issues with trying to see anything beyond the hood, here and there. There wasn’t much lightening associated with this downpour. That’s odd too. The clouds reminded me of clouds I’d seen elsewhere. But I couldn’t quite place exactly where. Furthermore, I noticed something else, what sailors call “the smell of the sea”. And that IS rather odd around here.

Susan didn’t notice the aroma that much.

The way things were going, I thought for sure that Pueblo would be having their best rain all year. But, typically, hardly a drop.

Once home, Susan said she was noticing sea-like aromas. I noticed they were stronger and included something like rotting fish.

Then I remembered where I’d seen the sort of clouds I noticed on the drive; hurricanes. So, I’m wondering….was last Tuesday’s interesting weather the passage of what remains of Hurricane Emily? The one that stormed across the Yucatan late last week?

The plot took it west across Mexico proper to dissipate into a strong weather system. Then, running into the prevailing winds in western Mexico, would it not be blown to the northeast?

Just the other day, the National Weather Service was all a titter about a big cloud of dust coming to the east coast from the Sahara desert. If matter as heavy as dust can make it all the way across the Atlantic Ocean from Africa to the Carolinas, surely the light odors of the Yucatan jungles can be carried here by what used to be a hurricane.

I’ve asked the National Weather Service about this. Maybe they’ll answer….