Ryder Cup Rain Gear Leaves Team USA "All Wet"

Nice job by Corey Pavin and the leaders of the U.S. Ryder Cup team not providing proper rain gear for the players.

Reports say the gear is not 100% waterproof and gets heavy when it gets wet, which is all the time in these parts of Europe.  Conditions on Friday are awful, and play is currently suspended.

How does this happen?  Was Capt. Pavin more worried about what tweets might leak out on Twitter than getting rain gear that actually works in the rain.

Even the USA Today writer covering the event weighed in on the situation.

He's right, in addition to the gear not working, it looks awful.

Did I just hear ESPN's Mike Tirico correctly?  He said some US team members were at one of the merchandise tents buying gear for the rain? 

This will be a struggle this weekend.  Can't stand losing to "Monty".

Update on Friday, October 1, 2010 at 8:20AM by Rick C.Limpert

The U.S. team has made the decision to scrap the rain gear they had been using and now will be wearing some rain gear made by a top notch company called ProQuip that was bought onsite in the merchandise tent.  Imagine that, the spectators were wearing better rain clothes than the U.S. Players.

The original gear from Sun Mountain did not work and the players could not play in it.  The new gear will not have a U.S. logo on it, just a Ryder Cup logo, but who cares at this point. 

More updates to come.

Remains of Tropical Storm Nicole Head up East Coast

A storm system moving up the East Coast soaked parts of North Carolina on Thursday, caused soggy morning commutes in the Northeast and prompted worries of flooding as far north as Maine.

Tornado watches were issued from North Carolina to New Jersey.

In North Carolina, the nearly 21 inches collected in Wilmington since rain started falling Sunday topped Hurricane Floyd's five-day mark of 19 inches set in 1999, the National Weather Service said.

Farther north, parts of eastern Virginia were under flash flood warnings. The National Weather Service also issued a tornado watch for 33 eastern Virginia counties and 21 cities, including Richmond, Williamsburg, Arlington and the Hampton Roads area.

Flash flood watches were also in effect for areas in Maryland, West Virginia and Washington, D.C.

In southeastern North Carolina, about 9 inches of rain fell at the Sunny Point military terminal in Brunswick County between midnight and 6 a.m. Thursday, the National Weather Service in Wilmington reported.

The downpour came as a low pressure system from the west mixed with the remnants of Tropical Storm Nicole. Nicole dissipated over the Straits of Florida on Wednesday and its remaining rainbands were expected to remain mainly offshore while tracking northward.

Tropical Storm Hermine in the Gulf

Tropical Storm Hermine is getting a little stronger in the Gulf of Mexico as it heads toward the coasts of Texas and Mexico.

A tropical storm warning was issued early Monday for the southern Texas coast. A tropical storm warning was already in effect for the coast of Mexico from Tampico to the mouth of the Rio Grande.

Hermine's maximum sustained winds have increased to near 45 mph mark.

Heavy rain is predicted with northeastern Mexico into south Texas getting 4 to 8 inches with as much as a foot in some places. It could cause flash floods and mudslides.

The storm is located about 280 miles south-southeast of Brownsville, Texas, and is moving north near 10 mph.

U.S. Open: Weather Advisory, but Play Will Begin at 11

Weather advisory:

For Friday, Sept. 3, Session 9 

(as of Friday, September 3nd at 7:00 am)

Based on the latest official weather report from the US Open Meteorologist at 6am, intermittent showers are anticipated for this afternoon. We will begin today's session as scheduled at 11am.

That is the current word from The U.S. Open.

Here's the hour-by-hour forecast: