Heading North

Ernesto is headed north after making landfall in North Carolina last night. It's still got some gusty winds and is delivering rainfall on the order of 3-6 inches. It will be bringing winds to the Virginia area and interacting with some weather in southern Canada and heading into New England.

Bye-bye, Ernesto.

Image from The Weather Channel

Picking Up Steam

Ernesto is picking up some steam as it heads up the Atlantic coastline today. Its winds are now at 70 mph, just 4 mph shy of hurricane status. The warm waters of the Atlantic are helping to feed its frenzy. Hopefully, it will soon go out to sea.

Image from The Weather Channel

Tropical Depression Ernesto

Ernesto is now a tropical depression. It's bringing heavy rainfall, but it doesn't seem to be too serious of a storm. Some flooding is predicted later in the week. The Pacific Ocean seems to be having the hurricanes this season.

Image from The Weather Channel

Tracking a Storm

Well, Ernesto is still a tropical storm, but look at how the projected path has changed from its first course. Meteorologists work very hard to give accurate forecasts using computer models, but it's a difficult task.

Image from The Weather Channel

Ernesto

Ernesto is still weakening, but who knows what will happen?

How about its course now?

Image from The Weather Channel

Changes

Almost 12 hours later, and Ernesto is downgraded.

Image from The Weather Channel.

One Year Later...

Katrina

The name brings shivers up and down your spine, does it not? Probably the worst storm in history, it devoured New Orleans and destroyed much of the Gulf Coast in August 2005. Families were uprooted and settled elsewhere. Many have returned, but I'm sure their lives are nowhere near normal, but will they ever be? It was such a horrific event I can't imagine what all of these victims faced as the storm raged through last year.

Let's hope Hurricane Ernesto is a weak storm.

Here We Go Again

Another hurricane season is upon us. Ernesto is strengthening in the Carribean and is currently projected to come to Florida and progress northward to adjacent Gulf Coast States. Meteorologists depend heavily on computer models to show them the possibilities of what storms will do. This path could change over the next few days. I wonder what changes, if any, the path will make? Let's watch the course of this storm and see.

Images are from The Weather Channel.

Welcome Back

I started this blog on August 14, 2005. I haven't done a wonderful job in keeping it updated this summer, but maybe I can do a little bit better. We've got some new things rolling out, and this summer kept me pretty busy keeping some of the old ones in working order. The student information system keeps me hopping.

I hope all students and educators everywhere have a great school year. It's amazing how you start your countdown on day 1 isn't it? I overheard someone say, "One down and 189 more to go."

I know the feeling.

Using Data to Improve Education

There's a push out there in America that calls for more data from schools. Why? Schools are now governed by a law from 2001 called No Child Left Behind. Schools are under pressure to prove their children are making adequate yearly progress. Data is compiled and reported and this adequate yearly progress (AYP) is determined. Administrators are using data from various programs to identify students who are weak in certain areas in order to better prepare them in those areas. They can also use data to determine which teachers are better in certain concepts and address those concepts with students who perform lower in these areas. School systems are hiring additional personnel to help compile this data for reports so administrators can see how students are improving in their classes. It can be an expensive endeavor for school systems.

There is an article with the Arizona Republic that explains this process pretty well.