The Weather Thread

[phattymatty]

i'm actually pretty impressed with my neighborhood. all the shelves are still stocked and no one seems to give a shtein and nobody is freaking.

i have a bag full of golden goat and stocked up on booze and rubbers just in case we somehow get it bad.

[Geowhizzer]

Hurricane forecasting is often off in some way, especially with national forecasts.

In 2004, I went to bed with the national forecasters saying that there was no signs of strengthening, and that Charley should stay off the west coast of Florida and make landfall at the "Big Bend" (where Florida's panhandle starts) as a strong 2 (winds about 100-110).  The local guy wasn't so sure - he thought it was showing signs of intensification.  I was tired from hurricane preparation (if it's slotted to come anywhere near us, we board the windows and such) and let my wife watch the reports and went to bed.

My wife woke me up early the next morning with the news that Charley was now a Cat-4 with winds around 140.  Sometime later, it took basically a right turn into Charlotte Harbor (about halfway between Ft. Myers and Sarasota, or 90 miles south of Tampa).  Sadly, Charlotte County and inland (DeSoto, Hardee, Highlands) is about the least prepared area for a hurricane, and there was heavy damage.  Even in Lee and Collier County, the cleaning up of trees and restoring of power (and we were pretty far from the eye) took over a week to clean up.  My school district was closed for a week.

Three things from this:
1.  These storms are relatively unpredictable.  Even the best forecasters get parts (wind speed, storm surge, location of landfall) incorrect.
2.  The national weather guys (especially the Weather Channel) suck.  They're not about giving you information.  They're about giving you "the story" and drive up ratings.  Shocking, I know.
3.  You're not necessarily out of the woods yet, especially if you're in coastal areas or near rivers.  This is still estimated to be a major rain and flooding event.  Thankfully the wind damage should be minimal.

[Geowhizzer]

Speaking of "legit" storms, I wonder how there's anybody left in either Taiwan or the Philippines.  They seem to get hit be a 3-4-5 storm every year.

[ice grillin you]

this would really only be of interest to shore and dio but this is an awesome page with a link to md traffic cameras....you cn watch any of them live and the quality is excellent....its really for traffic but ive been using it for weather today

http://www.chart.state.md.us/TravInfo/trafficcams.php#

[ice grillin you]

naked guy on weather channel a little while ago


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtWRuvjzq8E

[SD]

haha, that's awesome. I like the black cat at the end too.

[MDS]

its slightly windy and rainy there and hes "upset" that people are driving around

ok.

[SD]

Hurricane Irene has started to turn to the northeast, but is slowing down dramatically.

[MDS]

is it too late to call sundays game back on?

[Seabiscuit36]

Its just rainy here, but once we get hit, its a guarantee that we have no power.  Had a storm 3 weeks ago go thru, couldnt get home for 5 hours and power was out for 13.

We did all the prep we can, both tubs full of water, two 5 gallon jugs full of water, and two cases of bottled water.  Lots of propane to cook, and lots of liquor.  Should be pretty killer to watch tonight, as some people still have their sailboats on the moorings.  I'm expecting to spend the day tomorrow cleaning them off the harbor. 

[SD]

is it too late to call sundays game back on?

The storm slowing down is a bad thing, means it's going to be here longer.

[Rome]

The cost of mobilizing an EOC is enormous too.  They farging blew it this time.

[Munson]

Think the folks down in MD are underestimating how bad the flooding is going to be inland. Yes, the shores are gonna get the worst of it between the wind and storm surges, but right now the Southeast PA/Northern Delaware/Inland jersey are expected to get 8-15 inches of rain. That's ridiculous.

[Seabiscuit36]

If my house floods, Delaware is gone.  They're expecting the Elk and NE river to go up about 4 feet, if not more.

[SD]

It's awesome looking at the extended weather forecast.

Saturday: Doom and gloom
Sunday: Doom and gloom
Monday: sunshine and 85 degrees