Friends and family are asking if Hurricane Irma is coming towards the West Coast of Florida and us. Well, we just don't know . . . yet. Here is the current (midday on 5th) local weather forecast - Bay News 9 - depiction of the spaghetti model of hurricane forecasts from models around the world.
Where will she go - East Coast of Florida, West/Gulf Coast of Florida, down the middle of the Florida peninsula (about 160 miles wide) or out in the Atlantic or Gulf - who knows?? Can hardly see Florida beneath the spaghetti lines in the picture below? Well you get the idea.
'Huge eye and well defined wind flow - a category 5 strong hurricane' says the weatherman.
'Huge eye and well defined wind flow - a category 5 strong hurricane' says the weatherman.
We've already had lots of rain this summer and it has been particularly hot, humid and sticky in July and August. This has basically alleviated the spring drought in our area.
A second potential Atlantic Hurricane - currently Tropical Storm Jose - is coming up behind Irma, but seems to be heading north not west.
"Prepare for the worst and hope for the best;" Governor Scott has declared a state of emergency in preparation. The hurricane hunters are up in their planes and have found winds of 180 mph now. And the local area flood water rescue experts that went to help out in Houston, have just returned home.
Bay News 9 reporting lines at the grocery store and local outages of bottled water. We have a pre-prepared hurricane box of supplies, some canned food and have made inland hotel reservations, guessing at where might be the best place to go within a few hours of here. I think locals are paying attention and taking action after having seen the impact, water rescues and devastation of Hurricane Harvey in Houston.
There are calls for blood donations to stock the blood bank, but they don't accept those who lived in the UK late 1980s to mid 1990s (can't test for mad cow disease), so that rules out mini me!
Mandatory Evacuation Orders have begun in the Florida Keys.
So this is what it is like when a major hurricane may be coming your way . . . a bit anxiety forming.
What ever happens stay safe...... but you know, if you want to stick your head out the window and get some picture..... ;)
ReplyDelete'"The hurricane force winds in Irma are wider than Florida," tweeted Bryan Norcross, hurricane specialist at the Weather Channel. "You won't need a direct hit to get Wilma-type winds & Storm surge on both coasts."' per the Washington Post on Sept 6 at 9:30 am.
ReplyDeleteGulf waters are calm and very clear with many dolphins out frolicking - they have been jumping clear out of the water, tail slapping, squirting blowhole water, back flopping and nuzzling each other with great abandon - perhaps some play or real fights? Are they grateful to see the models indicate Irma is going up the East Coast of Florida?
ReplyDeleteam watching the weather news to keep an eye on you being safe. Jenny C family in Grenada also safe so far. Perfect excuse to stay in and finish a quilt?
ReplyDeleteEver wondered why people don't evacuate in advance of a hurricane? Well now I know, an evacuation order is only issued 48 hours in advance of the storm, the roads are clogged, you are told not to go earlier, it is hard to know where the storm is going to hit and how hard ... for example, all of 160 mile wide Florida has been in the 'cone of uncertainty' (Irma is 400 miles wide with 34 foot waves) and we are still advised that it could track west. Our impact could be nothing (to drier air than normal removing our regular summer afternoon thunderstorms) to a direct hit of a category 5 hurricane in 3-4 days. It had been forecast to arrive anytime at our latitude from Saturday to Monday. You get the idea.
ReplyDeleteStay well and safe. Chrissy & I are praying for you both. I'm wishing your cruise had been this week now. Keep us posted too. Lots of love.
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