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“ Talking the Tropics With Mike ” is updated every day during the hurricane season.
July has indeed been hot in Jacksonville & is on track to be one of the hottest Julys on record in Jacksonville. An interesting sidenote: every day - through the 23rd - has been 90+. Since 1871, we’ve only had 3 years with all 31 days in July at or above 90 degrees.
As of Wed., July 24th, Jacksonville is in the top 10 of consecutive days at or above 90 degrees F:
But our wet season has finally caught fire. July will end up wetter than avg. at JIA & for most of Northeast Florida & Southeast Georgia after a relatively dry June & a sputtering start to the wet season that went into early July. 2 more months of the “wet season” for Jacksonville, & the tropics *may* very well have at least some input which may stretch into October.
New research indicates the rapid increase in the rate of sea level rise along the U.S. Southeast Coast since 2010 is due partly to natural variability factors, and that the rate of sea level rate might slow in the next five years. The full research paper is * here *. Key findings:
- The compounding effect of buoyancy-driven Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) variations and wind-driven North Atlantic (NA) tripole mode mutually amplify the recent acceleration of sea level rise along the U.S. Southeast Coast (USSEC), exacerbating the role of external forcing.
- The authors’ forecasting system indicates that the rapid sea level rise acceleration along the USSEC is very likely to slow down in the next five years.
Every once in a while in one’s career, you get the opportunity to work with someone that makes your job “easier”, more enjoyable & memorable. Unfortunately that combination doesn’t always last as long as one might wish. And so it’s so long - professionally - to John Bachman, Jr. My own career began with John’s dad - the venerable John Bachman, Sr. just a few years ago - well like some 35+ years ago(!). I only spent about 3 years in Des Moines, Iowa with John Sr., but he left an indelible impression on me. And so I was admittedly pretty pumped when John Jr. accepted the anchor job here at Action News Jax in 2014. I’ll never forget walking into the newsroom when he arrived thinking I’d been teleported back to the late 1980s as he & his dad have a very similar appearance. John, Tenikka & I had a lot of fun times along with some very serious times during our time together in the news studio. And lots of laughs - sometimes on the air but often during commercial breaks. We covered our share of hurricanes - Matthew, Irma, Michael & Nicole come to mind. John has very personal memories of “chasing” Florence in N. Carolina in 2018 as well as powerful Cat. 5 Michael just a month later in the Florida Panhandle. John & I can both be sneaky sarcastic, & I always enjoyed that not so overt humor. Then there are John’s many dad jokes, his music acumen & his poking fun at my age (like a fine wine). And sports even though he is a Vikings fan. And John is the one person in the newsroom that walks faster than I do. He always has somewhere to be... with phone in hand :). He certainly wears his heart on his sleeve - it’s an admirable trait.
More seriously... I like John’s line of thinking & questions - he can keep me on my toes. I distinctly remember John during our wall to wall Irma coverage raising his hand & asking me - the “professor” a question about how Irma was moving & its impacts all the way from the Keys to Jacksonville. John is a serious, well informed journalist - curious, a listener while interviewing but also doesn’t take himself too seriously. John Bachman Jr. is darn good at his job but more importantly a good man... a man with integrity, faith and a dedication to family. John had been here less than a year when he showed up out of the blue with his family at “PurpleStride” - a fundraiser for pancreatic cancer, a disease that took my mother’s life. I spotted him while I was doing my emcee “thing”, & it’s always stuck with me. He was the first to check on me after some pretty private but serious surgery some years ago. And just last Dec., John texted me about ringing the bell for the Salvation Army. A few days later there we were at a local Publix.
Co-workers come & go in the news business - it’s just part of the gig. One has a tendency to become accustomed to it, dare I say almost robotic & resigned to the announcement of a departing colleague. This one hits home. But I’m lucky to have started my career with the elder local t.v. statesman Bachman dovetailed by JB Jr. in what is essentially the sunset of my own career.
John Bachman Sr.:
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