LeRoy Spayd

Retired NOAA Meteorologist - PSU grad, golfer and science/investor interests

[Florida Storm Chasers @FLStormChasers_]

🌊HISTORIC SEA LEVEL RISE!🌊
UPDATE: According to tide stations, this peak king tide today was the HIGHEST EVER RECORDED across southeastern #Florida, and the HIGHEST KING TIDE in recorded history for the Florida Keys.

Many vehicles have been ruined, and some businesses have been flooded. If you encounter a flooded road, TURN AROUND! The car damage is not worth driving through it.

#flwx

[Backpirch Weather @BackpirchCrew]

11 years ago today, the strongest single storm in World History was heading straight for the coast of Mexico.

At 215 MPH and 872 MBAR, Hurricane Patricia is the only known cyclone to reach the maximum possible storm intensity that the laws of physics will allow on Earth.

[Ben Noll @BenNollWeather]

Sunrise to sunset on Super Typhoon Champi: an eyewall nearly 2 Mount Everests tall casts shadows across an eye 1.2 Rhode Islands wide.

[Veer @Veeringwindswx]

A heroic drifting buoy recorded quite the deep pressure of 909.4 mb in the southwest edge of #Champi’s eye, implying a central pressure <900 mb.

Satellite presentation is at the very upper end for a ~30-35 nm diameter eye — given fast movement, 165 kt is a reasonable estimate!

[Backpirch Weather @BackpirchCrew]

There are moments where our planet shows us how small we are.

This is one of those moments.

Extremely high-resolution view of mesovortices inside the 895 MBAR Stadium Effect of Super Typhoon Champi right now, as the air rushing into this 35 mile-wide vacuum accelerates the serrated, 50,000 ft high thunderstorms in the eyewall to sustained wind speeds of 185 MPH with gusts up to 225 MPH.

[Backpirch Weather @BackpirchCrew]

What Super Typhoon Champi is doing right now is almost unheard of.

We have seen many storms in the West Pacific achieve this kind of extreme intensity before, but few have done so with an eye and eyewall as physically massive as Champi’s.

At 185 MPH (298 kph), with gusts likely over 215 MPH (345 kph) and a near-buoy confirmed eye pressure of 895 MBAR, this is one of the most ridiculous cyclonic core structures we have ever seen in the satellite era.

[Dylan Federico @DylanFedericoWX]

Guam is in grave danger of a direct strike from a Super Typhoon. Tons of lightning in the eyewall tells me #Champi is still intensifying on final approach.

[Andrew Markowitz @amarkowitzWX]

I think it’s pretty clear that Florida’s Gulf Coast is the modern Hurricane Alley. Including Isaias, there have been 10 hurricane and 6 major hurricane landfalls over this region since 2016.

But from 2006-2015 there were ZERO hurricane landfalls in Florida. How the tables turn…

[Cosmic Earth @_cosmicearth]

Incredible footage of volcanic eruption of a dormant volcano in Ethiopia from a commercial plane.

A sight seen for the first time in recorded history. ⌚

[Craig Setzer, CCM @CraigSetzer]

Wow, giant mixer in the sky! 2026 September Nor'easter.
“Big whirls have little whirls,
That feed on their velocity;
And little whirls have lesser whirls,
And so on to viscosity.” - Richardson

[Massimo @Rainmaker1973]

The creepiest lightning strikes ever filmed

[Ryan Hall, Y’all @ryanhallyall]

BREAKING: A Hurricane Warning is now in effect for Kauai County and The Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument from Nihoa to French Frigate Shoals.

Hurricane Warning: Kauai County, including the islands of Kauai and Niihau and The Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument from Nihoa to French Frigate Shoals.

Tropical Storm Warning: Kauai County, including the islands of Kauai and Niihau.

Hurricane Lowell is 115 mph, about 455 miles southwest of Lihue, Hawaii. The center is forecast to pass near Kauai late Monday.

This is the first hurricane warning for Kauai since Douglas in 2020, and Hawaii's second in three weeks after Lala. Lala was an 80 mph Category 1 when it brushed the Big Island. Lowell is 115 mph right now.

Winds and surf arrive before the center does. If you are in the warning area, finish your preparations today and listen to local officials.

We are watching this closely.

[UW-Madison CIMSS @UWCIMSS]

During the ongoing eruption of #Krakatoa in Indonesia, 10-minute @JMA_kishou Himawari-9 True Color RGB images today showed a broad lower-altitude area of volcanic ash (shades of brown) along with pulses of higher-altitude volcanic clouds (a mixture of water vapor, ash and SO2).

[WeatherFront @WxFront]

Anak Krakatau is erupting. 🌋

The Himawari-9 satellite vividly depicts a plume of volcanic ash being thrust into the atmosphere 100 miles west of Jakarta, Indonesia.

[Backpirch Weather @BackpirchCrew]

Exceptionally clear satellite imagery of monster Hurricane Lowell as he claims a new peak intensity of 926 MBAR, ~615 miles to the south of Hawaii. The massive Stadium Effect in the storm’s eye right now is about as insane as it gets.

He is officially forecast to attain CAT 5 status again in the coming hours.

[Ryan Maue @RyanWeather]

Google Deep Mind WeatherNext 3 sure passes the eye test!

Near-surface temperature at 5 kilometer global is the highest-resolution global product available in real-time by any public facing private sector company or government agency.

Another major leap in skill, too!

[Ryan Maue @RyanWeather]

You're looking live at El Niño going "full-tilt" to start meteorological fall. Once in a lifetime event.

Three monster hurricanes in E. Pacific w/Hawaii splitting the uprights.

Moisture from Hurricane Marie is going to inundate U.S. desert Southwest with major monsoon!

[Ryan Hall, Y’all @ryanhallyall]

The Pacific has turned into a storm factory.

THREE storms are spinning out there right now, lined up like they’re on a conveyor belt.

Karina is a Category 4.

And Marie just formed at the end of the line, becoming the 13th named storm of the year.

We normally don’t get to #13 until October.

I guess this is what a “super El Niño” looks like.

[Dylan Federico @DylanFedericoWX]

The Brown Ocean Effect is on full display with #Edouard’s eye and core still in tact on radar this morning.

Catastrophic flooding is ongoing in SE Texas where 1 - 2 feet has fallen with reports of water entering homes. Over 30,000 people are without power. #txwx 🌀

[Dylan Federico @DylanFedericoWX]

A tropical storm is forming off the Louisiana Coast this morning. I expect this to be named #Edouard by the National Hurricane Center soon. Hurricane Hunters are scheduled to investigate today. Landfall will be in SE Texas or SW Louisiana on Tuesday. 🌀