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- - - 2000 Hurricane Season - - -

- Has Joyce Gone?
  • From: Peter Crane <pcrane AT surfmail.caribsurf.com>
  • Date: Sun, 01 Oct 2000 11:30:48 -0300
From here it looks that Joyce is not a threat to most of the Lesser Antilles
but it might be a little unpleasent down Trinidad and Tobago way.
They certainly do have my sincere sympathy.

Here, in Nevis, the weather is gorgeous.

UPDATE on my previous entry:-
The Thought Police were delayed and when they forced their entry into
Kelly's residence they found that it was abandoned and empty of all evidence
except 
for a partly burned scrap of paper.
By applying advanced forensic techniques (holding it close to the eyes and
squinting) they managed to make out a single word - JOHN.
It is therefore assumed that the fugitive might be male!

Regards,
Prof. Peter 'Cracking Up' Crane


- A Dangerous Intellectual
  • From: Peter Crane <pcrane AT surfmail.caribsurf.com>
  • Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2000 18:15:33 -0300
My thanks to J B Kelly, St. Thomas, who has eschewed his/her calculator and 
has considered my 'little' problem without using the concept of acres.
He/she/it has ALSO eschewed the classic weight of ton, preferring 2,000 lbs 
to a ton and comes up with 7,831,762.38 'english' tons of water!!

Well, J B Kelly, I have notified the Thought Police who are AT THIS VERY 
MOMENT speeding to your residence with a warrant.
If you wish to avoid an interesting experience involving some close 
encounters with medieval hardware it MIGHT be wise to shin out of your back
window and make yourselves scarce.

J B Kelly also claims to have a PIG so he/she is not ALL bad.

Have a nice day, J B Kelly.
Prof. Peter 'Whistle Blower' Crane
P.S. What is your definition of an inch?
P.P.S.  I won't mention Joyce!


- "How Much" - Correction
  • From: Peter Crane <pcrane AT surfmail.caribsurf.com>
  • Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2000 18:30:04 -0300
I am indebted, figuratively speaking, to Joel Crocker form St. Lucia 
who writes:-

Dear Prof. Peter,
I love a mathematical problem as much as the next mathematician so I looked 
into William Glover's suggestion and found a small error in logic: 
1 FOOT of rain over an acre results in 43,650 cu ft of rain - not 1 INCH. 
1 inch of rain over an acre results in 43,650 divided by 12 = 3,637.5 cu ft.

I don't know the weight of water, but if he's right about 62.42796
pounds per cubic feet, I get:
36 miles X 640 acres X 3,637.5 cu. ft X 62.42796 lbs X 3 inches
divided by 2,240 lbs/ton = 7,007,093 tons - whew!
I guess a lot of it just runs off the island and back into the ocean!

Mathematically yours,
Joel Crocker


Many thanks, Joel.  
So there you have it.  OR DO YOU???

Regards,
Prof. Peter 'Arithmetically Challenged' Crane
P.S.
We had a heavy shower today and got about 1 million tons falling on Nevis.
P.P.S
Who is Joyce?


- Fair to Partly Cloudy with Scattered Showers
  • From: Peter Crane <pcrane AT surfmail.caribsurf.com>
  • Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 21:05:50 -0300
That is what the local radio station (VON) always give us as the weather
forecast and, yes, 320 days a year that is about right.

Last night, though, we got about an inch of rain, according to my PIG.
Well done, VON, not even close!!

Joyce looks quite menacing.

Regards,
Prof. Peter 'who cares' Crane
P.S.
For those who haven't followed my notes my PIG is a :-
   high-tech analogue integrating Precipitation Indication Gauge 
   (Patent Applied For).  
   It is cunningly disguised as a plastic bottle with the top cut off!



- Incredible!!
  • From: Peter Crane <pcrane AT surfmail.caribsurf.com>
  • Date: Sun, 24 Sep 2000 23:07:01 -0300
36 square miles and 3 inches of rain??

William Glover, the Donkey Spider expert, says:-
Come, come, Professor Crane. It's common knowledge there are 640 acres in 
a square mile, an inch of rain falling on an acre amounts to 43,560 cubic 
feet, and a cubic foot of water weights 62.42796 pounds. Beyond this I 
can't go because of an insufficiency of fingers and toes. It's easier in 
metric and the answer I get is 444,053 quintals, more or less. How much 
should we allow for a little greater density of water from the salt spray 
in the air?

Well...
36 square miles times 640 acres times 43560 cubic feet times 62.428 pounds
times 3 inches divided by 2240 lbs/ton equals a whopping 83,911,793.55 tons!!

84 MILLION tons??  
On our little island??
What???

Can anyone do better than William?

Regards,
Prof. Peter 'Gob-Smacked' Crane
P.S.  what is a quintal in REAL money?


- How Much ????
  • From: Peter Crane <pcrane AT surfmail.caribsurf.com>
  • Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2000 18:49:39 -0300
As you know Nevis has an area of approx 36 square miles.
You didn't know?  Oh well!

Now, TD#12 dropped about 3 inches of rain on us and I decided to calculate 
the weight of water that had fallen on the island (how sad am I?).

I couldn't BELIEVE the number!!

Maybe someone would like to do the calculation and let me know what THEY get.

Regards,
Prof. Peter 'What a Lot I Got' Crane


- Still Standing
  • From: Crane Peter <pcrane AT surfmail.caribsurf.com>
  • Date: Tue, 19 Sep 2000 18:08:15 -0300
Many many thanks to all of you who gave me advice on how to tie a short 
piece of rope to a beam.
To you who wanted to kick away the stool ... you'll have to form a queue 
behind Eugenie, my wife.

To those of you wanting to purchase an Analogue Precipitation Indication 
Gauge (A PIG) I have good news.  By purchasing them in bulk I am able 
to pass on substantial savings to you.  I accept all major credit cards 
(but prefer cash).

Weather-wise we are back to idyllic conditions.  A slight cooling breeze, 
hot sun, blue skies.
Let's hope it continues.

Regards,
Prof Peter 'Kicking' Crane


- TD#12 - Additional
  • From: Crane Peter <pcrane AT surfmail.caribsurf.com>
  • Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 09:09:38 -0300
Additional - another half inch of rain fell since my last message, according
             to my Analogue Precipitation Indication Gauge (A PIG) which,
             to the untutored eye, looks like a plastic bottle with the top
             cut off.
Additional - I've bought ANOTHER flight for my daughter at considerable
             additional expense.
Additional - I'm still stressed out.  Does anyone know how to attach a
             short length of rope to a beam?

Regards,
Prof. Peter 'It's only money' Crane


- Tropically Depressed - Big Time
  • From: Crane Peter <pcrane AT surfmail.caribsurf.com>
  • Date: Sun, 17 Sep 2000 10:47:24 -0300
TD#12 passed us last night (Saturday).
The wind wasn't too bad (mine always is!) but the thunder and lightening 
were REALLY impressive.

At considerable expensive I have procured and commisioned a high technology
Analogue Precipitation Indication Gauge (A PIG).  For the technically minded
it is a plastic bottle with the top cut off!  
It shows that we received two-and-a-half inches of rain.

Now ...  my daughter is staying with us and should have got her flight to
Antigua this morning to connect with her onward flight.  
But her Nevis flight was cancelled and I cannot contact Antigua to cancel
her onward flight!!
She is stressed out, my wife is stressed out, and I am REALLY stressed out.
Does anyone know any good jokes??

Regards,
Prof Peter 'AGHHHHHHHHH' Crane


- Who's a Naughty boy, Then?
  • From: Crane Peter <pcrane AT surfmail.caribsurf.com>
  • Date: Sun, 27 Aug 2000 18:08:41 -0300
OK, I know that I'm supposed to say that we are terrified and the storm is
CRASHING down on top of us and so on.

The TRUTH is that Debby brought some welcome rain and the wind wasn't too bad.

Now - we are enjoying wonderful Caribbean weather.
Maybe it's a bit hot but ...

Hey, It ain't too bad, is it?

Regards,
Prof. Peter 'Relax Mon' Crane


- Thank You, Thank You, Thank You
  • From: Crane Peter <pcrane AT surfmail.caribsurf.com>
  • Date: Tue, 22 Aug 2000 09:02:54 -0300
First of all let me express my hope that all others on the path of Debby get
off as lightly as we did.

Light winds.
Another half-inch of rain.
And that's all!

Many thanks for all the good-wishes mail that my wife and I received.

Also thanks to "thiselvis" of Antigua who advised:-
"Good luck, batten down, bottle up."

The Carifesta festival (St.Kitts and Nevis) was postponed last night but
will probably be in full swing again tonight.
The Netball Championships matches (here on Nevis) were also postponed.

We had Electrical Power ALL NIGHT!!!!!!!

Regards,
Prof. Peter 'No Probs, Bruce' Crane


- UNBELIEVABLE!
  • From: Crane Peter <pcrane AT surfmail.caribsurf.com>
  • Date: Mon, 21 Aug 2000 17:09:26 -0300
I asked some people how their storm prparations were coming on.
The reply was something like "According to the Weather Channel the storm is
going to hit Puerto Rico - so we will be OK."!

Now, we are almost exactly on the line between the storm and Puerto Rico!
Naturally the U.S. station will talk about U.S. islands - won't they?

Well my preps are just about complete now.

Later.
Prof. Peter 'Ready and Willing' Crane
P.S.
We are now getting Hurricane Warnings.
The shelters will "not be opened unless anyone needs them"!
We are expecting 4-6 inches of rain.


- Here we go again
  • From: Crane Peter <pcrane AT surfmail.caribsurf.com>
  • Date: Mon, 21 Aug 2000 11:12:20 -0300
Very busy making preparations in the rain.
We've had over half-an-inch this morning and Debby hasn't really knocked on
the door yet - but we can see it coming up the road.

Mixed feelings here.
Many people are saying it won't come.  Heads in the sand or what?
Local Radio is playing uplifting music ?!!????

Not much sound of hammering yet.

Got to get back to my preparations so - Later.

Regards,
Prof. Peter 'give-us-a-break' Crane


- go AWAY!!
  • From: Crane Peter <pcrane AT surfmail.caribsurf.com>
  • Date: Sat, 19 Aug 2000 20:56:23 -0300
Here we go again.
According to the pundits TD#7 is going to build up to a Category 1 hurricane
quite quickly and then coming rushing over my head - ouch!

It is expected in about 2 days.
But do I really care?  What do you think?

Last year I published my personal hurricane check-list.  If anyone wants a
copy of it just let me know.
If anyone else has a check-list I would love to see it to see what I have
missed on mine.

Just at the moment the weather could not be better.  The sky is (was) clear
and blue and the delightful cooling breeze was most welcome.

It is going to change folks.

Regards,
Prof. Peter 'Pass the Hammer and Nails' Crane


- Telephone & TV protection
  • From: William Glover <wmglover AT granger.com>
  • Date: Sun, 6 Aug 2000 11:01:16 -0400
Not at Nevis at the moment, but endorse friend 'Bright Spark' Crane's 
suggestion to unplug all telephones during any thunderstorm.

Would also suggest that the cable TV lead be disconnected from the TV at 
such times.

Good luck to all with Alberto.


William Glover
New York City


- It Was a Hard Day's Night
  • From: Crane Peter <pcrane AT surfmail.caribsurf.com>
  • Date: Fri, 04 Aug 2000 22:51:41 -0300
What a night!
We had a a MOST spectacular thunderstorm tonight.
The sky was lit up on (almost) a continual basis.
Winds and rain were somewhat heavy, but not dangerously so.

Our dogs (remember them?) were terrified and were scratching at 
the laundry door for us to let them in.

Power was cut for as far as I could see - the only lights 
coming from homes with back-up generators.

INCIDENTALLY - if you are in a thunderstorm situation I advise you to
unplug the TELEPHONE line (from the wall).  I, and many people I have
communicated with, have had my modem 'fried' by getting a power surge
through the telephone line!

I wonder how OTHER correspondants feel about the existance of Alberto?
As far as I am concerned I almost feel relieved that the Hurricane Season 
has started.  NOT, let me hasten to tell you, that I like hurricanes 
but because, after last year's busy season when there always seemed to 
be some storm or other somewhere - threatening, it seemed unpleasant 
to wait for the curtain to rise (as it were).

Regards,
Prof. Peter 'Bright Spark' Crane


- The storm clouds were gathering
  • From: Crane Peter <pcrane AT surfmail.caribsurf.com>
  • Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2000 21:08:07 -0300
The tropical wave which brought the welcome showers has now passed
and we are back to irrigating the yard with hoses.  It probably
won't last for long before another system arrives, though.  
It IS that time of year.

Looking at the Atlantic map there is a huge area of cloud 
(about 10N and from 20W to 40W)!
It has no 'cyclonic' shape yet but ...


Regards,
Prof. Peter 'The Pessimist' Crane
P.S. Thank you, Maggie, for your nice e-mail.


- Welcome to Nevis
  • From: Crane Peter <pcrane AT surfmail.caribsurf.com>
  • Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2000 08:07:31 -0300
Well, You might be pleased to hear that we got a few more welcome 
showers which have raised the level of our cistern 
(I know that you were worrying about it).

Also, I got a lovely e-mail from "Joe" who is coming to Nevis on 
a vacation soon.  He says that he has never been to the Caribbean 
before so he is in for a lovely surprise, isn't he?

Don't worry about hurricanes, Joe.  It is just a trick of the 
tourist people to make the islands look exciting.  
We haven't had a hurricane now for months!!

Regards,
Prof. Peter 'No Problems' Crane


- A couple of welcome showers
  • From: Crane Peter <pcrane AT surfmail.caribsurf.com>
  • Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2000 18:01:22 -0300
Well, what did I tell you five days ago?
You don't know do you?  That's because nobody is reading these notes.
Ho hum.

Anyway, the 'something-nasty' that came off Africa came quite quickly across 
the Atlantic, weakening all the while.  By the time it arrived (just South of
here) it had become two weak tropical waves.
We got a few welcome showers which wetted the ground quite nicely and SHOULD
have filled the cistern.  Unfortunately one of my toilets kept running (for
the technically minded the flapper valve was jammed) and I lost A LOT of water
but it is not yet at a critical low.  A TD would be very welcome to fill it
up again.

Anyway, the grass is green, the sky is clear (and blue), the flowers are 
beautiful and even the donkeys are smiling.


Life is Great
Prof. Peter 'Feeling Frisky' Crane (Nevis)
P.S.
Frisky says "Hi"!!


- What can I see?
  • From: Crane Peter <pcrane AT surfmail.caribsurf.com>
  • Date: Sat, 08 Jul 2000 17:51:59 -0300
Tell me, am I wrong or what?
Is there a something-nasty coming off Africa?

I hope not.


Goodbye for now
Prof. Peter 'Watching and Waiting' Crane (Nevis)


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