Thursday, August 25, 2011

Irene

UPDATE 8 AM: The storm is at LAT 25.5N LON: 76.5W or basically parallel to Miami. At its present speed and movement the center will miss South Florida. We can expect some gusty winds at times, on and off rain, and very rough seas. Whew!  Now a worry for the Mid Atlantic States.

UPDATE NHC 5AM: Irene bashing NW Bahamas and then heading to the Carolinas. NO Watches for us. Still, with such a dangerous hurricane a mere 225 miles to our East later today... keep watching just in case.

It is down from 120 mph to 115 mph as of this early update. The reason for this: It is going through an eyewall replacement. Imagine if you we running at full speed for as long as you could, sooner or later you have to catch your breath before taking off again... this is what the eyewall is doing, catching its breath.

Most models expect some strong upper winds to move off the Southeast coast today and protect us from Irene.

This is the latest from NHC at 5am:

  • THERE HAS BEEN NO CHANGE TO THE TRACK FORECAST REASONING.  IRENE SHOULD TURN NORTHWARD AS IT MOVES THROUGH A BREAK IN THE SUBTROPICAL RIDGE
  • THE OFFICIAL TRACK FORECAST HAS BEEN SHIFTED VERY SLIGHTLY TO THE WEST OF THE PREVIOUS ONE AND IS ROUGHLY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE GUIDANCE ENVELOPE...WHICH IS BRACKETED BY THE U.K. MET. OFFICE MODEL ON THE EAST AND THE GFDL MODEL ON THE WEST.
  • A HURRICANE HUNTER AIRCRAFT INVESTIGATING IRENE A FEW HOURS AGO FOUND THAT THE CENTRAL PRESSURE HAD DROPPED TO 950 MB. 
  • SINCE THE ENVIRONMENT APPEARS TO BE CONDUCIVE WITH WEAK SHEAR...WARM WATERS...AND AN UPPER-LEVEL OUTFLOW ANTICYCLONE OVER THE HURRICANE...THE OFFICIAL FORECAST SHOWS RE-STRENGTHENING WITHIN A DAY OR SO.  
  • GIVEN THE LIMITATIONS IN OUR ABILITY TO PREDICT INTENSITY CHANGE...THERE IS SIGNIFICANT UNCERTAINTY AS TO JUST HOW STRONG IRENE WILL BE WHEN IT NEARS THE EASTERN AND NORTHEASTERN U.S. COAST. 
We can expect breezy to windy conditions at the coast, with some pockets of rain. Sustained winds should be around 30 mph with some stronger gusts.  Going to the beach or boating is NOT recommended.

By tonight still a few storms, then by Friday look for hotter temperatures to move in here after Irene has passed.Keep your fingers crossed.


4 comments:

  1. will irene be affecting us here in miami in any way? are we going to be feeling tropical storm winds?

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  2. Best advice is to stay on your toes, keep watching the forecast and be prepared. If you ask 5 meteorologists what they temperature was at noon yesterday you will get 5 different answers, or course, Phil will be the one with the correct answer!

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  3. Hey, didn't your band record during a hurricane at "in roads" recording studios? Many do not know that Phil Ferro was a Rock Singer when a teen. lol

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  4. Wow! In Roads studio... there is a blast from the past. OK feeling much better now. The storm is at LAT 25.5N LON: 76.5W or basically parallel to us. At its present speed and movement it will miss us.

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