The Lord Hath His Way in the Whirlwind

The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet. Nahum 1:3

I will be watching the low, formally known as Tropical Depression 5, the next couple of days. Here is a brief history of the low.

On Sunday, US Special Envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell was preparing for his visit to Israel. On this trip, Mitchell would meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday and conclude his trip the following day with a meeting with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday. The goal of the trip was clear, pull the two sides closer to a breakthrough on the resumption of direct talks.

August 9, 2010, the same day that Mitchell meets with Abbas in Ramallah, NOAA upgraded the low to a 30% chance of a tropical cyclone formation. (Orange 2-30%)

August 10, 2010, the same day that Mitchell meets with Netanyahu in Israel, NOAA upgraded the low to TD 5, with a large possibility of the storm strengthening into a tropical storm within the next 24hrs. (Red Five)

I believe it is note worthy to point out that the Gulf oil clean up was once again hampered by another relatively small "nuisance" tropical disturbance. Possibly, considering the circumstances, TS Bonnie (later downgraded to a depression and remnant low as she was over the gulf clean-up area) along with TD 5, could be two of the most expensive non-impressive storms of their kind. I have no way of knowing for sure, but I would imagine it is pretty pricey to completely halt operations connected to the Gulf oil clean-up, especially when it was halted for two storms that didn't seem to be much of anything.

On August 11, 2010, TD 5 continued to move towards the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts, all the while staying just under tropical storm strength.

As the storm was moving closer to the shore, Mitchell was returning to Washington D.C., without his "breakthrough". Earlier that day the State Department, per Philip Crowley, commented on Mitchell's visit saying, " There's still work to be done." Crowley elaborated on this view by saying,

"We believe - through these meetings, as indicated yesterday, we believe we are closer to direct negotiations than we were last week. But we still have some details to work through and we will continue to press - work through these details, press as hard as we can to get the parties into those negotiations as soon as possible. We will continue to consult with the Quartet and others on how we can be as supportive as possible and to encourage the leaders to say yes and move forward."

Tropical depression 5 continued to weaken as it came ashore on August 12. (Yellow 1-0%).

NOAA upgraded its forecast of the system to 0% of any further tropical development within 48hrs. Effectively, NOAA declared the system as dissipated. This system did not dissipate though, instead it did something strange, it stalled. As it stalled over land, just a bit north of the shore, it continued to pull in fuel from the warm coastal waters of the Gulf.

Watch this Joe Bastardi video as he explains the peculiarity behind this storm stalling and the potential threat that it presents by doing such a thing. Also, listen for the time frame; this time frame is one that is similar for the anticipated announcement with regards to the resumption of direct talks next week.

Abbas is waiting for an anticipated statement from the Quartet to be released early next week, with some reports even saying that he could give an answer to the Obama administration as early as this Sunday, August 15. Either way, the announcements seem to be paralleling Bastardi's forecast for the progressive rejuvenation and eventual resurrection of TD 5. IF Bastardi's forecast is correct and the system achieves tropical storm strength before any other systems develop in the Atlantic, she would be named Danielle.

Danielle is the feminine form of Daniel, the Hebrew name which means, JEHOVAH is my judge.

I don't know what will happen with the system or whether Abbas will announce that he is willing to start the direct talks process, but I do know that judgment has always been connected to the attempted division of the Covenant Land of Israel.