Twin Tropical Trouble
 

www.weather.com/newscenter/tropical

M. Ressler, Senior Meteorologist, The Weather Channel

Two strengthening tropical storms are churning through the Atlantic Basin, one in the Gulf of Mexico, the other in the northern Caribbean Sea.
Tropical Storm Bonnie is edging toward the north in the central Gulf of Mexico, but is expected to take a more northeasterly track later today. Bonnie could move across the Florida Panhandle late Thursday morning. A tropical storm warning and hurricane watch are in effect from the Alabama-Florida line to the Suwannee River.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Charley, just under minimal hurricane strength, is churning west-northwestward through the north-central Caribbean Sea. Conditions are favorable for Charley to become at least a category one hurricane. Tropical storm warnings are in effect for Jamaica, a hurricane watch is in effect for Jamaica and the Florida Keys, and a hurricane warning is in effect for the Cayman Islands and the western half of Cuba.

A large upper-level system dominates much of the U.S. A strong southwesterly flow aloft will rapidly steer Bonnie and then Charley up the Eastern Seaboard, just ahead of a cold front, this weekend.
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Holy crap! It's coming right for me!

Charley:
http://image.weather.com/images/maps...ke_720x486.jpg

...waiting for Pat Robertson to say it's because of the gays...

You made a funny.

Wonder if the surf is going to be good.

See this is why I don't understand how people live in Florida.

-Rudey

Well, at least with a hurricane you know it's coming and you can get out of there before it hits unlike earthquakes or tornadoes.

Plus, it's usually sunny and warm here. It's just that every few years we have something like this that likes to knock out a few houses and power when it comes through.

Except for Andrew in the early 90s, Florida hasn't had to deal with too many hurricanes since the 1960s. I grew up & went to college in Florida, and can only remember a few big storms that didn't do a whole lot of damage. The Carolinas and Virginia seem to get hit harder and more often. Plus the northeast part of Florida (Jacksonville, Daytona) rarely gets hit because the Gulf Stream is further away - the storms move up the coast before hitting Cape Fear. (I hope I'm not jinxing my Jax friends by saying that ...)

Man, all those jokes about everything veering off and hitting the Carolinas have finally caught up to us Central Floridians.

At least I'll have a half day tomorrow and all of Friday off and get paid for it. Yay for working at KSC. :D

My boss keeps joking that if we don't come in on Friday we'll have to use it as a vacation day. At least I hope he's joking....

"Sorry that I didn't come in on Friday. I didn't want to be killed on my way to work by torrential downpour, lightening, and tornadoes."

Kentucky Skillet Chicken?

i have been in Florida since I was 7 years old and a few years before that. i have never been hit by a hurricane *knock on wood*

if this map is right, it looks like another close call for me.
this was done earlier today. the storms are much stronger now



http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com...torms2_map.gif

i think the same thing about people in California and earthquakes

Only 50-60MPH?

We got hit with just a plain' ol thunderstorm here last night that had winds in the 70's. Knocked over telephone poles and uprooted trees. My parents told me it uprooted a tree in their front yard.

And we do get warning when there'll be tornados. Sometimes several hours warning.

both storms have strengthened. bonnie is at 65 mph and charley is at 75. it is expected to go up

earthquakes aint so bad. Its not like you can see it coming, plus you know generally where they happen. Not in Sacramento :D

See, you still get warning.

With our t-storm last night, the only thing we heard was "Severe Thunderstorm" (which can mean just about anything from a little rain an a little lightening to deluge and all hell breaking loose).

:D

But yeah, I'm glad that I'm far away from your tropical storms.

You know it.

What are you talking about?

I grew up in Northern Florida--right on the Panhandle, right where this other storm is headed. In 1995, we had two pretty big hurricanes within 8 weeks of each other. Our old house was right on the Gulf, we did pretty well, but a lot of people weren't as lucky. In 1998, there were two smaller tropical storms that came through the area. The Panhandle gets a lot of the storms that come into the Gulf. Most of the time they weaken into tropical storms before making landfall.

Also, the thing that makes a hurricane so destructive is the storm surge. Depending on what time of day a hurricane comes in, it can cause severe damage.

So, so, so effing glad that I no longer live in Floriduh. I can deal with nor'easters way better than I can deal with this hurricanes.

No state income tax.

I was supposed to be moving tommorrow, but it got pushed back to the end of the month. this is a good thing, since loading a uhaul in a hurricane is generally not a good idea.

Munchkin, I think she only meant NE FL. I grew up in Jacksonville, where we almost never got any hurricanes. I remember years of watching forecasts predicting we'd get hit, only to have the hurricane get caught in the Gulf Stream, and end up missing us and hitting the Carolinas. As a little kid, I thought it was kind of dissappointing.

Didn't we have a near-miss from a really big hurricane a few years ago? I almost want to say it was Hurricane Floyd back in 1999. I just remember UCF kicking us out of the dorms which were probably some of the safest buildings in East Orlando. The dorms I was in were built in the 60's (older buildings tend to be built better) and the walls were concrete. Instead, I could either evacuate to the gym (um...no) or stay at a friend's place. I went to my friend's place and he lived in some rickety apartment that probably could've got taken out if someone breathed on it wrong. Everyone made a huge deal out of it and everyone was freaking out since it was coming right for Central Florida. Then, the Hurricane did what many of them do. It took a turn and headed for the Carolinas instead.
I know Florida (South Florida) had a few tropical storms and hurricanes in the mid to late 90's proceeding Andrew although none have been nearly destructive as Andrew.

Yeah, sorry, I'm kind of peninsula-oriented when it comes to Florida. It does seem that the panhandle got hit with lots of tropicals, but again nothing major like Andrew. Northeast Fla never seems to get hit, nor does Central Florida on either coast (although it looks like this is going to change with Charley aiming at Tampa).

Good luck everyone in Florida!

i remember Floyd:eek: traffic here was awful!!! it took 12 hours to get south carolina. the storm never really hit jacksonville :rolleyes:

but yeah, it seems like we always get missed. we are in the little corner of northeast florida. i hope we dont get jinxed. even if it did come here, it wont be the bad. the hurricane will weaken a great deal before coming to jax

I remember going through a couple of hurricanes back when I was younger. Remember one when I was about 4 years old; I'm thinking it was the tail end of Camille, before it really became a badass storm and nearly wiped out the Mississippi Gulf coast.

Second one was David in 1979. I remember it making a beeline for Miami and South Florida before making an abrupt turn northward. Dodged a bullet that time.

Ever wonder if they ever reuse hurricane names? They usually do, except in hurricanes that have caused major damage. Which is why Camille, David, Frederic, Hugo, Andrew and a few others won't ever make the list.

http://weather.unisys.com/hurricane/...atl_names.html

http://www.wxresearch.com/retstrms.html - retired storm name list

I hope no more hurricanes blow through b/w now and next weekend when I have to fly home. I'm nervous enough about flying as it is, let alone flying in the middle of a hurricane.

I saw today that they are evacuating my county for the first time in, well, I think a very long time....guess I should call my parents and check on them!

The bad hurricane that hit us (Pinellas county) was back in '85...Hurricane Elena. That's the only one that I ever got out of school for anyways. Of course, technically, Elena never hit us - she sat just off our coast for 3 days and blew wind and rain at us. The only reason I missed school was b/c my school was the evacuation center for all the beach residents. Can't go to school when people are living in your lunch room.

In school we would always skip school to go TO the beach during a hurricane. We were nuts. That's what surfing will do to ya' though.

hurricane and rush
 

What happens if a hurricane hits during rush week? Will it be cancelled or moved some how inside?

Re: hurricane and rush
 

Hurricanes can't be cancelled, so the storm will be moved inside so that rush can go on outside.

Re: Re: hurricane and rush
 

Bwahaha.

I'm so pissed. This thing is going to hit within about 24 hours and they're refusing to evacuate Kennedy Space Center until the last minute, and they're supposed to get us out of there 24 hours beforehand. And all the IT people are going to be stuck there trying to back up tons of info and making sure the place is going to be ok. This means I'll go into work tomorrow and an hour after I get there, they'll tell us to go home. Then I'm stuck on I-95 with a bunch of morons while I head to my boyfriend's house. All because they want to save a few bucks and not evacuate during second shift. :rolleyes:

The other thing that bothers me is if we did want to evacuate, they've effectively screwed us. They finally closed the schools here.

Alright, I'll admit I just want to go to a Hurricane Party.

Ironic that I have lived in both Florida and California...

Ahh Floyd.... my Pi Kappa Phi friends threw a hurricane party at what was then Knights Krossing, in honor of good old Floyd.

I live in Pinellas County.
I had to evacuate.
I'm up in Fort Walton Beach now.

Please pray that my apartment doesn't flood!:(

Re: hurricane and rush
 

Nice to see you have your priorities straight :D

In OK, we had an ice storm hit us during spring rush. It started off as this freezing sleet. Then, it covered all of the trees in this thick sheet of ice. After that, limbs started just falling out of trees, trees fell over, etc. Half the state was without power and getting from point A to point B was damned near impossible. There were no special changes made to rush though. I believe rush just generally sucked that Spring.

Where in Pinellas County do you live? I was just curious.

My parents and my brother and my sister live there. My sister evacuted to Orlando, but my parents and my brother are staying. We live in one of the highest parts of the county, so they're not going anywhere. My mom is sure they'll be fine. The only thing she doesn't like is how they shut the bridges down when the wind hits 40 mph.

God I miss this! I wish I were there right now. It's so exciting!

Do you have renters insurance?

This picture was on the front of CNN.com. Is it me or does anyone else find this wrong? The parent is wearing a rain coat and standing on a higher level while taking a picture of kids who are not wearing rain clothes and are standing in an oncoming wave. Some people have no common sense and probably should not be parents.
http://i.cnn.net/cnn/2004/WEATHER/08...t.beach.ap.jpg

the part of jacksonville that i am in is not expected to be too bad. i hope. i made my boyfriend stay with his parents, cause his apartment is by lots of trees and powerlines.
i hope the power doesnt go out cause that would suck. *sigh* i wish charley would disappear. people in jax arent freaking out too much which is a good thing. i cannot wait until tomorrow morning when the storm is all gone.

Re: Re: hurricane and rush
 

Did you have an ice- skating party? :D

now the storm is a category 4. :(

http://news.yahoo.com/fc?tmpl=fc&cid...ropical_Storms