Hurricane Season 2008 - The Official Thread

[HurricaneJoanie]

Yeah, Bill...that is weird!

Thanks for the sticky, Linda!

Tiff, I have a 62 lb. dog. A carrier just won't do.

He was a baby when we weathered Hurricane Floyd in 1999 -- that was one scary storm as we live on a hill and have loads of pines and hardwoods all around the house. We hunkered down in the hallway for the night. And since then, every time we have a big ol' storm (like on Tuesday night when tornadoes roared through my area), he heads for the hallway. At least I know when I'm not home he'll be in the safest place in the house.

[tiffany]

Yeah, Bill...that is weird!

Thanks for the sticky, Linda!

Tiff, I have a 62 lb. dog. A carrier just won't do.

He was a baby when we weathered Hurricane Floyd in 1999 -- that was one scary storm as we live on a hill and have loads of pines and hardwoods all around the house. We hunkered down in the hallway for the night. And since then, every time we have a big ol' storm (like on Tuesday night when tornadoes roared through my area), he heads for the hallway. At least I know when I'm not home he'll be in the safest place in the house.

That would be some big big carrier... But for my kitty and other less poundage animals (;)) as Linda said it would probably keep them feeling a little more secure.

But a good strong leash would help with your little puppy...

[Swerdloc]

Tropical storm lashes Central America

By FILADELFO ALEMAN, Associated Press Writer

Tropical Storm Alma lashed the coast of Central America with heavy rains and high winds on Thursday after becoming the first such storm of the eastern Pacific season.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said the storm was expected to strengthen to a hurricane before hitting Nicaragua near the city of Leon later Thursday.

As of early afternoon, Alma was packing maximum sustained winds near 65 mph (100 kph) and was located about 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Managua. The storm was moving north at 7 mph (11 kph.)

Authorities issued hurricane warnings for coastal Nicaragua and Honduras.

The fast-growing storm took forecasters and many in Central America by surprise. Residents scrambled to prepare for the storm before it hit.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080529/ap_ ... al_weather

[HurricaneJoanie]

Less than 48 hours before the official June 1 start-date and thar she blows!

Thanks for the post, Bill!

[SETIsLady]

Thanks for joining the thread Bill !!

[HurricaneJoanie]

Tropical Storm Alma

[Shirleypal]

Hurricane high-risk areas have lost residents
By Brad Heath, USA TODAY
After decades of breakneck growth in high-risk areas, the summer hurricane season is starting with fewer Americans in harm's way.
The number of people who live in coastal areas that are most vulnerable to wind and water has fallen slightly since 2000, reversing a boom that brought tens of thousands of homes and high-rises to low-lying regions from Texas to Georgia, a USA TODAY analysis shows.

About 2.1 million people live full-time in those areas, down less than 1% over the past eight years.

That doesn't mean Americans are thinking twice about living in vulnerable spots, says Robert Hartwig, president of the Insurance Information Institute. Instead, he says, the slowdown is more likely a result of a housing market crunch that's left some homes vacant — and others half-built — in once fast-growing parts of the South.

"Memories are short, and when the economy does recover, you'll see people snap up those properties in coastal areas again," Hartwig says.

The steepest population losses were in the coastal parishes of Louisiana, flattened nearly three years ago by Hurricane Katrina. In St. Bernard Parish, La., a flat expanse outside New Orleans surrounded by swamps and the sea, the number of residents in the highest-risk neighborhoods dropped by two-thirds since 2000.
[url=http:/http://www.usatoday.com/weather/storms/ ... 0Briefing/]Link[/url]

[HurricaneJoanie]

BULLETIN
TROPICAL STORM ARTHUR INTERMEDIATE ADVISORY NUMBER 2A
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL012008
700 PM CDT SAT MAY 31 2008

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

...POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY RAINS AND FLOODING CONTINUES AS ARTHUR MOVES
SLOWLY WESTWARD OVER THE YUCATAN PENINSULA...

A TROPICAL STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE COAST OF BELIZE
AND FOR THE EAST COAST OF THE YUCATAN PENINSULA FROM CABO CATOCHE
SOUTHWARD TO THE BORDER WITH BELIZE.

FOR STORM INFORMATION SPECIFIC TO YOUR AREA...INCLUDING POSSIBLE
INLAND WATCHES AND WARNINGS...PLEASE MONITOR PRODUCTS ISSUED
BY YOUR LOCAL WEATHER OFFICE.

AT 700 PM CDT...0000Z...THE CENTER OF TROPICAL STORM ARTHUR WAS
LOCATED INLAND OVER THE SOUTHERN YUCATAN PENINSULA OF MEXICO NEAR
LATITUDE 18.4 NORTH...LONGITUDE 89.2 WEST OR ABOUT 55 MILES...90
KM...WEST OF CHETUMAL MEXICO AND ABOUT 175 MILES...285 KM... EAST OF
CIUDAD DEL CARMEN MEXICO.

ARTHUR IS MOVING TOWARD THE WEST-NORTHWEST NEAR 7 MPH...11 KM/HR...
AND A GRADUAL TURN TOWARD THE WEST IS EXPECTED TONIGHT. ON THIS
TRACK...THE CENTER OF ARTHUR WILL CROSS THE SOUTHERN YUCATAN
PENINSULA TONIGHT AND COULD EMERGE OVER THE BAY OF CAMPECHE ON
SUNDAY.

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 40 MPH...65 KM/HR...WITH HIGHER
GUSTS...MAINLY EAST OF THE CENTER OVER THE WATERS OF THE
NORTHWESTERN CARIBBEAN SEA. ARTHUR IS EXPECTED TO WEAKEN TO A
DEPRESSION TONIGHT...BUT IT COULD LATER REGAIN TROPICAL STORM
STRENGTH IF IT EMERGES OVER THE BAY OF CAMPECHE.

TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 260 MILES...415 KM
TO THE EAST OF THE CENTER OVER THE NORTHWESTERN CARIBBEAN SEA.

ESTIMATED MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE IS 1006 MB...29.71 INCHES.

ARTHUR IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE TOTAL RAIN ACCUMULATIONS OF 5 TO 10
INCHES OVER PORTIONS OF BELIZE...GUATEMALA...AND THE YUCATAN
PENINSULA WITH ISOLATED AMOUNTS UP TO 15 INCHES. THESE RAINS COULD
CAUSE LIFE-THREATENING FLASH FLOODS AND MUD SLIDES...ESPECIALLY IN
MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN.

[HurricaneJoanie]

Interviewer: "What do you call that haircut?"
George Harrison: "Arthur."
~ "A Hard Day's Night"

[HurricaneJoanie]

TROPICAL DEPRESSION ARTHUR ADVISORY NUMBER 5
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL012008
1000 AM CDT SUN JUN 01 2008

...ARTHUR WEAKENS TO A TROPICAL DEPRESSION ...THREAT OF HEAVY RAINS CONTINUES...

AT 10 AM CDT...1500 UTC...THE GOVERNMENTS OF BELIZE AND MEXICO HAVE DISCONTINUED ALL WARNINGS.

Next storm on deck, BERTHA....

[HurricaneJoanie]

For those of us living on the East Coast of the U.S., including the Gulf of Mexico, this is "that time of year."

Let's review the Be Prepared pages from the National Hurricane Center.

SetisLady and I also suggest you stock up on plenty of chocolate (or whatever your comfort food may be).

Stay tuned to this thread for the latest. Post your 2008 hurricane reports here.

[Shirleypal]

Hey Joanie let's hope there isn't anything but good news to report, hope you are ready and I don't mean just chocolate.

[HurricaneJoanie]

Still a few things to get -- at least there's always a bit of lead time with a 'cane.

Ironically, we need a small hurricane to pull us out of our drought. Sometimes Mother Nature knows what she's doing when the big blasts come through...but the outcome isn't always ideal.

[SETIsLady]

An update, well sort of

Experts: Atlantic still on track for 8 hurricanes

University team's updated 2008 forecast same as earlier one

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24949310/

[SETIsLady]

Tropical wave has shot at becoming earliest recorded 'Cape Verde' storm

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

A strong tropical wave just off the west coast of Africa has the potential to become a rare July "Cape Verde" storm, the National Hurricane Center said today.

Should it become Tropical Storm Bertha in the next few days, it would mark the earliest on record that a tropical storm has formed this far east, hurricane center specialist Eric Blake said this morning.

He noted many could have formed in this area in the centuries before they could be spotted with satellites.

The system is becoming better organized and could become a tropical depression over the next few days, the hurricane center said in the 2 a.m. update of its "tropical weather outlook" page.

While it's early in the season, and the storm wouldn't threaten the U.S. east coast for at least a week, its circumstances are "extremely rare," Blake said.

"It's not normally a good sign when they start this early," he said.

"The models are taking the system to the west," Blake said. But, he said, "this is a long ways away. We have a lot of time to watch this one."

Tropical Storm Arthur, which formed May 31, lasted only a few days but brought heavy rains to Belize, killing five and causing about $78 million in damage, according to the hurricane center.

"Cape Verde" storms are so named because they form in the island chain off Africa's west coast and so have several days to traverse an entire ocean, fueling on its warm water, before they approach the U.S. east coast.

Such storms traditionally form later in the summer, when waters are warmer.

This system stood early today about 330 miles southeast of the Cape Verde Islands and was moving west about 15 mph.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/conte ... 7&cxcat=76