Jump to content

Hurricane Season 2009


eternal light

Recommended Posts

Bill heading for Newfoundland

M. Ressler, Lead Meteorologist, The Weather Channel

Aug. 23, 2009 7:44 pm ET

HURRICANE BILL

Minimal Hurricane Bill is accelerating northeast toward southern Newfoundland. Bill made its closest pass to Bermuda early on Saturday and passed well southeast of Cape Cod and Nantucket early Sunday.

As of 8 p.m. EDT, Hurricane Bill was located about 230 miles west of Cape Race, Newfoundland.

The battering waves that have impacted parts of the U.S. East Coast continue to subside from south to north, but dangerous rip currents are still possible all along the East Coast.

Maximum winds are at 75 mph making it a minimal category 1 hurricane, but the strongest winds are near the center. Tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 250 miles from the center (mainly to the east), making Bill a large hurricane.

weather.com

If you're viewing the storm you should probably stand well back from the surf. One death has been reported in Maine due to a person getting too close to the waves just watching them. Another death was reported in Florida where a swimmer got caught in the heavy surf. These guys are probably a little too close to the water's edge for comfort. They could be gone in a flash. All it takes is one big swell washing over the rocks and you're swept away.

24storm_650.jpg

Courtesy of the New York Times

Hurricane Wave Sweeps 20 to Sea in Maine

By DERRICK HENRYPublished: August 23, 2009 A young girl died and nine people were hospitalized Sunday after a rogue wave from Hurricane Bill slammed into a viewing platform near the ocean at a park in Maine.

A group of about 20 people had gathered on the platform at Thunder Hole in Acadia National Park to watch the waves, which had been stirred up by the hurricane, when five of them were swept out to sea, the Coast Guard said. The spot is a popular tourist attraction, where waves crashing into a rugged granite crevice can create thundering reverberations and high salt sprays. The platform is 10 to 15 feet above the water line, and waves along the coast were running up to 12 feet during the afternoon, according to the Coast Guard.

"This is absolutely the effects of Hurricane Bill," Sonya Berger, a park ranger, told The Associated Press.

The wave hit about 12:03 p.m., the Coast Guard said. Spectators in the group pulled two people from the water, but three people, including the girl, had to be rescued by the Coast Guard.

Coast Guard officials said that the girl, 7, was unresponsive when she was pulled from the water at 5:20 p.m., about five hours after she was swept into the ocean.

The Associated Press said that the two other people rescued by the Coast Guard were a woman who appeared to have a broken leg, and a man who had a previous heart condition that appeared to be acting up.

Hurricane Bill, with maximum sustained winds of 75 miles per hour, was centered near eastern Nova Scotia and headed for Newfoundland at about 35 miles per hour Sunday night, the National Hurricane Center said in an advisory. The storm was expected to weaken by Monday, when it encounters cooler waters.

The hurricane is also blamed for a death in Florida — a 54-year-old swimmer who was found unconscious Saturday on the shore of New Smyrna Beach, northeast of Orlando. The authorities said the man, identified as Angel Rosa, of Orlando, became caught in rough waters caused by the hurricane.

Officials all along the East Coast of the United States issued warnings about rough surf and ordered beach restrictions as Hurricane Bill moved northward after raking Bermuda.

But the National Hurricane Center lifted the tropical storm warning for the Massachusetts coastline, including Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, early Sunday, and President Barack Obama and his family arrived on Cape Cod on Sunday afternoon for vacation after the storm had passed well to the east.

nytimes.com/2009/08/24/us/24wave

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=6RUix07lEpc

This second video appears to be taken in Nova Scotia rather than Cape Cod.

Edited by eternal light
Link to comment
Share on other sites

They really should close the lower viewing platform during periods of extremely large ocean swells in the Thunder Hole area of Acadia National Park so that people will not be swept away. That area is too close to the water. All it takes is one huge swell and you're gone.

Bill's Waves Kill 7 Year Old Girl Video

Bill has finally become extra-tropical after heading into cooler waters, but he did some damage during his lifetime.

weather.com/newscenter/hurricanecentral/2009/hilda

ATLANTIC

A tropical wave is interacting with an upper level low about 350 miles east of the Lesser Antilles, and is producing disorganized showers and thunderstorms. Some slow development of this system is possible over the next couple of days as it moves to the west-northwest near 20 to 25 mph.

The remainder of the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean are quiet at this time.

Over the next couple of days, a low pressure circulation currently over Africa will have to be monitored as it emerges into the adjacent Atlantic waters.

EASTERN PACIFIC

In the eastern Pacific, low pressure about 550 miles south-southwest of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico is being monitored for development. A tropical depression could form at any time over the next day or so, however it will remain well away from land.

A separate, smaller low east-southeast of the aforementioned low-pressure system also has some potential to develop.

CENTRAL PACIFIC

Tropical Storm Hilda is located about 815 miles east-southeast of the Hawaiian Islands, and has winds around 65 miles per hour. Some gradual strengthening is expected over the next couple of days, and Hilda could become a hurricane by Tuesday. The system is forecast to stay south of the Aloha State with no impacts other than a modest increase in east winds on the Big Island. Residents should continue to monitor the progress of Hilda.

Edited by eternal light
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank cripes I don't live in a place where they have hurricanes, earthquakes, tornados, forest fires etc etc.

Nearest hurricane I saw was back in '87 but that was nothing.

The Isle of Wight is in a sheltered inlet type of area that is less exposed to Atlantic storms.

Storm Tracker - Bill

Tropical Update - Bill Headed for the British Isles

Bill's going to...Ireland?

Tonight, an extratropical Bill will travel west to east across the North Atlantic.

Extratropical: An extratropical storm is a cyclone that no longer derives its energy source from the processes involved in sustaining a tropical cyclone, but thrives on baroclinic processes; i.e., the temperature contrast between warm and cold air masses.

The term extratropical is typically used when a tropical cyclone moves away from the tropics and moves poleward into cooler waters thus losing its tropical characteristics.

By Tuesday night, Bill will be vacationing along the shores of western Ireland.

weather.com

Edited by eternal light
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hurricane Tracker Danny

Danny heads for the United States East Coast.

ATLANTIC

A disturbed area we've been monitoring became better organized last night and has formed into Tropical Storm Danny the 4th named storm for the Atlantic Hurricane Season.

The center of circulation is located 390 miles east of Nassau, Bahamas or around 735 south-southeast of Cape Hatteras, NC. Top winds are around 45 mph and the system is moving off to the west-northwest around 12 mph.

Danny remains highly sheared at this time with the low-level center exposed and much of the shower and thunderstorm activity displaced to the east. Further strengthening is possible once this activity becomes more collocated with the center.

Although Danny is currently moving off to the west-northwest, a turn more to north is expected Thursday through Saturday allowing the storm to move near or off the East Coast of the United States.

Residents in the Bahamas and along the U.S. East Coast (mainly from eastern North Carolina northward) should continue monitoring this system closely to see what, if any, impacts it will bring Friday into the weekend.

At the very least there will likely be an increase in gusty winds along coastal areas, high surf, and rip currents due to a strong pressure gradient from high pressure that will move over the Northeast.

A new wave coming off the African Coast will be monitored the next several days for possible slow development.

Source: weather.com

Edited by eternal light
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Isle of Wight is in a sheltered inlet type of area that is less exposed to Atlantic storms.

The south, east and west coast of the island isn't sheltered. It's fully exposed to the ravages of the English Channel. While the storms in the English Channel don't approach the ferocity of the hurricanes of the Atlantic (thank cripes) they can still be pretty severe at some times. Like I said, in '87 it was a pretty nasty one although there hasn't been anything of that magnitude since.

I'd hate to live in a true hurricane zone, or any area that expreiences severe tornados, forest fires, earthquakes etc etc. I count myself very fortunate.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looks like Danny has kinda fizzled out.

But he still managed to have a little bit of fun while he lasted.

ATLANTIC

Tropical Storm Danny continues to weaken well off the Southeast U.S. Coast. As of 11 a.m. Friday, the center of Tropical Storm Danny was located 350 miles south of Cape Hatteras, NC.

Danny continues to struggle in a hostile environment, with an upper-level trough to the north and west, and shearing winds overtop the system.

Recent reports from a Hurricane Hunter Aircraft indicate Danny is barely holding on the tropical storm status, with the maximum winds at 40 mph to the northeast of the center of circulation.

Danny is moving northwest near 10 mph. It should make a turn to the north and north-northeast later today into Saturday, while accelerating, as an upper-level trough deepens over the Central U.S.

Elevated surf and rip currents are already impacting areas from the northeast coast of Florida to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and this will continue through tonight. Increased surf and rip currents will spread toward the southern New England coast tonight into Saturday.

There remains uncertainty in the forecast track but in any case Danny should remain weak.

For now, as a precaution, the National Hurricane Center has posted a tropical storm watch for the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

Assuming Danny can hold together, it would potentially make its closest approach to the Outer Banks tonight bringing a period of windy weather and perhaps heavier showers.

Saturday and Saturday evening it could make a closer approach to eastern New England bringing a chance for heavier squalls and gusty winds there, before quickly exiting into the Canadian Maritimes Saturday night and Sunday.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic, a well developed tropical wave was located about 450 miles southwest of the Cape Verde Islands.

This wave continues to show signs of becoming better organized, and it could become a tropical depression at any time, while moving west.

For now, it is of no threat to land.

weather.com/newscenter/hurricanecentral/2009/danny.html?role=&from=danny_path

Anyway, I happened across an interesting view of a gravity wave over Cape Verde from 2007.

Edited by eternal light
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It looks like Hurricane Jimena will be making landfall near Baja. You can expect her to cause some extremely rough weather. I hope the death toll will be small.

weather.com/newscenter/hurricanecentral/2009/jimena

JIMENA

Hurricane Jimena has strengthened into a category 4 hurricane. As of 8am PDT Sunday Jimena was located about 515 miles south-southeast of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico with top winds of 135 mph. It is moving off to the northwest at 9 mph.

The northwest motion should continue through Sunday with a turn toward the north expected Monday.

The forecast calls for Jimena to strengthen to 145 mph winds by Monday. Jimena should maintain those 145 mph into Tuesday as it makes a run at Baja California.

High waves being generated by Jimena could reach the Mexican coastline this afternoon from 100 miles south of Manzanillo to Puerto Vallarta. Dangerous rip currents will also be generated by the high surf in the same area. Surfers and swimmers should stay out of the water.

Jimena could approach Baja California near Cabo San Lucas Tuesday afternoon or night as a major hurricane. The last major hurricane to directly hit Baja California was Hurricane Kiko on August 27, 1989.

http://www.msnbc.msn...6223/ns/weather

MIAMI - A hurricane that could clip Mexico's coast next week grew stronger Sunday in the Pacific, while heavy rain and dangerous rip currents from a weak tropical system emptied America's East Coast beaches for a second straight late-summer weekend.

Hurricane Jimena, the 10th named storm of the Pacific season, strengthened to a powerful Category 4 storm in the Pacific and could get even stronger in the next day or two, forecasters said.

The National Hurricane Center says people in western Mexico and the southern part of Mexico's Baja California peninsula are being advised to monitor Jimena. The center's track shows the storm could make landfall by Wednesday on the Baja California peninsula.

Edited by eternal light
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you're viewing the storm you should probably stand well back from the surf. One death has been reported in Maine due to a person getting too close to the waves just watching them. Another death was reported in Florida where a swimmer got caught in the heavy surf. These guys are probably a little too close to the water's edge for comfort. They could be gone in a flash. All it takes is one big swell washing over the rocks and you're swept away.

24storm_650.jpg

Courtesy of the New York Times

nytimes.com/2009/08/24/us/24wave

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=6RUix07lEpc

This second video appears to be taken in Nova Scotia rather than Cape Cod.

Why hello "eternal light!" How's it going? I hope all is well with you. Gosh, I sure hope that 2009 is not going to be a bad Hurricane season. Other than the fact that we do need the water, Hurricanes is the last thing that we all need right now. ROCK ON my friend!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why hello "eternal light!" How's it going? I hope all is well with you. Gosh, I sure hope that 2009 is not going to be a bad Hurricane season. Other than the fact that we do need the water, Hurricanes is the last thing that we all need right now. ROCK ON my friend!

Hello, ZeppFanForever! It's sunny today. How are you doing? I hope it won't be too bad. Hurricane Jimena is out there in the Pacific near Baja at the moment.

LOS CABOS, Mexico – Extremely dangerous and strengthening Hurricane Jimena roared toward Mexico's resort-studded Baja California Peninsula on Monday, prompting emergency workers to set up makeshift shelters and chasing away an international finance conference.Jimena, just short of Category 5 status — the top danger rating for a hurricane — could rake the harsh desert region fringed with picturesque beaches and fishing villages as a major storm by Tuesday evening, forecasters said.

news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090831/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/tropical_weather

Jimena strengthens, heading for Baja California

Chris Dolce, Lead Meteorologist, The Weather Channel

Aug. 31, 2009 1:54 pm ET

JIMENA

As of 11 a.m. Pacific Time Monday, Jimena was located about 340 miles south of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. The Hurricane Hunters have found that winds have increased to 150 mph. A motion off to the northwest at 8 mph continues.

A turn more to the north-northwest is forecast and this would bring Jimena near southern Baja California on Tuesday. Jimena is expected to be a major hurricane (category 3 or higher) at that time.

A hurricane warning is now in effect for the southern end of the Baja Peninsula from Bahia Magdalena on the west coast around the southern tip of the peninsula and north to San Evaristo on the east coast (this includes Cabo San Lucas). A hurricane warning means that hurricane conditions are possible within 24 hours.

Hurricane watches have been issued farther north along the Baja Peninsula from Bahia Magdalena to Punta Abreojos on the west coast and from San Evaristo to Mulege on the east coast.

Hurricane force winds extend out 30 miles and tropical storm force winds out to 80 miles. Since the wind field is on the smaller side, the degree of damage will be largely dictated by the exact track Jimena travels along.

Residents and visitors of southern Baja California should be making preparations at this time for a major hurricane. Damaging winds, battering waves and heavy, flooding rains are all possible.

High waves being generated by Jimena are expected along the Mexican coastline from Manzanillo northward to the southern Baja. Dangerous rip currents will also be generated by the high surf in the same area. Surfers and swimmers should stay out of the water.

The last major hurricane to directly hit Baja California was Hurricane Kiko on August 27, 1989.

weather.com/newscenter/hurricanecentral/update/

capt_photo_1251738537491-2-0.jpg

capt_545177e50c31439dae0587db4256dc.jpg

Photos from Associated Press and Yahoo News

Edited by eternal light
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh man, I hate to hear that. Sounds like New Orleans, The Sequel.

Fortunately, unlike New Orleans they're not below sea level. So the water won't stand, but will drain off quickly. However the danger of flash floods is no tame monster. So instead of people standing on rooftops, you have people swept away, and raging torrents of debris. Would be nice if Baja got a pass and Los Angeles got heavy rain on those wildfires!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Look for some cheap vacation deals when this one passes.

I do hope too it will get to Cali's wildfires, as well as our friends down in the Big T..Texas, they need the rain so bad.

EL: Are you safe from the fires? We are getting the smoke from them here too, like every summer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Look for some cheap vacation deals when this one passes.

I do hope too it will get to Cali's wildfires, as well as our friends down in the Big T..Texas, they need the rain so bad.

EL: Are you safe from the fires? We are getting the smoke from them here too, like every summer.

I am presently safe from the fires.

capt_7f0cb03c71364bfe8df94a6a87f8ed.jpg

Source: Associated Press

Edited by eternal light
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My brother and his family live in Canyon Country, near Palmdale. I watched the fires come right to his backyard a few years ago. Scary shit! There were embers landing in the pool. My ex's mom lives in Oak Glen. She's been evacuated. Couple more months and it'll be mudslide season! :slapface:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

LOS CABOS, Mexico (Reuters) – Hurricane Jimena, an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm, slammed Mexico's Baja California peninsula on Tuesday, drenching the Los Cabos resort area where tourists hunkered in boarded-up hotels.

Sheets of rain poured down from gray skies as Jimena's howling winds hit the tip of the peninsula, home to world-class golf courses, yachting marinas and five-star hotels. The hurricane was set to make landfall on Wednesday in a sparsely populated area farther up the peninsula.

Hotels nailed boards over their windows, wrapped exposed furniture with plastic and turned conference rooms into storm shelters with camp bedding and board games.

A swanky beachfront hotel at Cabo San Lucas tied a fountain statue of sea god Neptune to palm trees and anchored a lobby chandelier to the ground with ropes to stop them blowing away.

Residents, many of them poor hotel workers or builders, huddled in shelters. Torrential rain flooded main roads, turned streets in one shanty town into muddy rivers and caused a sewage system in the town of San Jose del Cabo to overflow.

Many tourists were trapped as flights out were canceled.

"I've never experienced anything remotely like this," said real estate investor Reg Wilson, 36, from Orange County, California. "I have no idea what to expect. We don't have a lot of options so we just have to ride this out."

Jimena came close overnight to becoming a Category 5 storm -- the top of the Saffir-Simpson scale and potentially devastating -- but winds later calmed to 135 mph with higher gusts, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

People in Los Cabos were still scared. "I've never seen a storm this big in the 23 years I have lived here," said Caterina Acevedo.

Jimena's winds knocked down a power line, which lay on the ground firing sparks into the air, and Mexicans from a slum just north of Los Cabos fretted as they sheltered in a school that their flimsy homes could blow away or sink into mud.

"People are really worried," said Ilda Ramirez, 33, who lives in a shack made from cardboard and scrap materials. "I know we could end up losing everything."

EMERGENCY SHELTERS

Mexico has no oil installations or significant coffee and mining interests in the area. Cabo San Lucas port was closed.

An Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development meeting of officials from dozens of countries to discuss tax havens had to be moved from Los Cabos to Mexico City.

Much of Baja California is desert and mountains that are popular with nature lovers, surfers, sport fishermen and retirees. Los Cabos, normally bathed in brilliant sun from dawn to dusk, attracts planeloads of tourists all year round.

"We did a last-minute booking and ended up getting a hurricane," said tourist Cathy Hallock, 60, from California.

Many residents of shanty towns refused to leave, despite city buses waiting to take them to emergency shelters.

Jimena was about 110 miles south of Los Cabos and moving northwest at 12 mph.

The Hurricane Center forecast it would dump 5 to 10 inches of rain on southern Baja California and create a storm surge and significant coastal flooding. It urged people to take measures to protect life and property. "Jimena is expected to remain a major hurricane until landfall," it said.

Yachts, water taxis and glass-bottomed boats had been removed from the water at the port of Cabo San Lucas.

Colleen Johnson, 55, who just moved here from Canada, stocked up on water, batteries and canned food. "We're a little leery, but I think we are doing everything right," she said at a Wal-Mart store that had run out of rain ponchos.

Jimena is the second hurricane of the 2009 eastern Pacific season to pound Mexico after Andres swept a fisherman to his death in Acapulco in June.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...