Plan X and weather 101

we've had a change of plans. the short story is we've taken a slip in mazatlan until november. the long story is it's not just the hurricanes we have to worry about but the lightening storms which start in this area around may 15 or so! we've been advised by many that's it's not a good time to head far south of here and more prudent to wait until november. this area probably has the best weather for the summer but it's still hot and humid.

so here's your weather lesson for the day:

one of the cruisers gave the following explanation about storm formation in this part of the world. "Lightening comes in the ITCZ band. All of the weather you will experience is due to the earth changing its tip due to the season. The ITCZ will be moving up north from the equator... when it gets to southern Mexico it will allow the stored energy to form hurricanes. When this band goes over wherever you are there will be massive rain and lightening."

and from wikipedia here's the explanation about ITCZ or Intertropical Convergence Zone:

"The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), also known as the Intertropical Front, Monsoon trough, or the Equatorial Convergence Zone, is a belt of low pressure girdling Earth at the equator. It is formed by the vertical ascent of warm, moist air from the latitudes north and south of the equator. The air is drawn into the intertropical convergence zone by the action of the Hadley cell, a macroscale atmospheric feature which is part of Earth's heat and moisture distribution system. It is transported aloft by the convective activity of thunderstorms; regions in the intertropical convergence zone receive precipitation over 200 days in a year."

the problem with lightening, aside from it being scary, is that all kinds of nasty things can happen to the boat and our electronics, not to mention us. here's a good website about lightening precaution http://www.cassmosheriff.org/archive/lighting2.htm.

and that's the really really long story why we're keeping the boat in mazatlan until november. we just made the decision yesterday and we're still grappling with our new Plan X--like, what a great opportunity to go back home for a bit, see other parts of mexico in cooler mountain areas. oh and all those projects we've been putting off, well we'll have plenty of time to get them done. good thing we have a lot of books on board. so we're trapped in paradise with swimming pools, a gym, great wifi and iguanas.

as for the image, from wikipedia, it shows the band of thunderstorms in the ITCZ across the eastern Pacific Ocean right where we were going. now it's on to Plan X.