2012 Atlantic Hurricane Season: Non-Minnesotans arguing about the weather...

[DrDemento]

Re: 2012 Atlantic Hurricane Season: Non-Minnesotans arguing about the weather...

Hope y'all along the Atlantic coast are safe.

Wind just starting to pick up here in CT. Sky is gray. No sign anything unusual is pending (that didn't stop the Governor from already declaring a state of emergency!), however, it's high tide right now, and the tide is higher than usual. One of the roads that leads into/out of our little area is already flooded, and that's before any rain or additional storm surge arrives.

Here in NJ it is just gray (as it usually is) and a bit windy. Nothing much but that is to be expected. I figure this thing is just chugging along going up north and the real action for us will start when it decides to make that sudden left turn. This is the part that troubles me-the forecasters are probably pretty good at predicting the path as long as it is moving fairly straight-but predicting that left turn-when it will happen and more importantly how suddenly it is and the shape of the turn has got to be more difficult. Being off by a few degrees in Latitude or Longitude or on the speed by a couple MPH and the turn is altered considerably and the path it then follows could mean the difference in landfall of 100 miles or more. In any case we are bracking for the worst case scenario here. Our chief of police announced a state of emergency as of today and only emergency vehicular traffic allowed after 11 PM tonight.

[Almington]

Re: 2012 Atlantic Hurricane Season: Non-Minnesotans arguing about the weather...

Weather Channel is showing a map of the winds @ 5,000 ft. My house is around 300' above sea level. Why should I care about the winds 1 mile up?

Those are the winds that are going to control the path the the storm takes.

[FreshFish]

Re: 2012 Atlantic Hurricane Season: Non-Minnesotans arguing about the weather...

Hope y'all along the Atlantic coast are safe.

Wind just starting to pick up here in CT. Sky is gray. No sign anything unusual is pending (that didn't stop the Governor from already declaring a state of emergency!), however, it's high tide right now, and the tide is higher than usual. One of the roads that leads into/out of our little area is already flooded, and that's before any rain or additional storm surge arrives.

[joecct]

Re: 2012 Atlantic Hurricane Season: Non-Minnesotans arguing about the weather...

Weather Channel is showing a map of the winds @ 5,000 ft. My house is around 300' above sea level. Why should I care about the winds 1 mile up?

[Ralph Baer]

Re: 2012 Atlantic Hurricane Season: Non-Minnesotans arguing about the weather...

It has started to drizzle in 202 land.


I blame this on my cousin named Sandy whose birthday is on Wednesday, 10/31.

[state of hockey]

Re: 2012 Atlantic Hurricane Season: Non-Minnesotans arguing about the weather...

Not the Atlantic, but there is a tsunami warning for Hawaii after a 7.7 earthquake off the coast of British Columbia.

[joecct]

Re: 2012 Atlantic Hurricane Season: Non-Minnesotans arguing about the weather...

6 refineries are in the affected area. I think I will fill up all the cars tomorrow before the gas hits $4.00++

[FreshFish]

Re: 2012 Atlantic Hurricane Season: Non-Minnesotans arguing about the weather...

Not sure how many people are familiar with the classic Robert McCloskey book A Time of Wonder. It always comes to mind when we have these long, drawn-out approaching storms along the eastern seaboard. for those of you in the storm's path with children, you might want to check it out. it can be reassuring to them.

be safe y'all!

[bigmrg74]

Re: 2012 Atlantic Hurricane Season: Non-Minnesotans arguing about the weather...

If you fill up a couple of jugs of water and put them in your freezer now, you can keep the contents of your freezer longer. Might just be enough to help keep things if you only out for a day or so.

[DrDemento]

Re: 2012 Atlantic Hurricane Season: Non-Minnesotans arguing about the weather...

FF-Irene passed directly over us here in NJ. We stood outside in the eye-not as dramatic as it was when we did the same in 1992 with Andrew in Kendall lakes but still pretty special. We came within a few feet of being flooded out with irene. But escaped with only damage to my truck which I moved to higher ground-and some drunken fool side swiped during the night. Had I left it in the driveway I would have escaped with no damage at all.
Our local municipality has robocalled us 4 times already-and that is 3 days in advance of whatever will happen. I am sure they have their reasons and concerns but it is just plain annoying. We are quite close to the ocean here-but fairly high. I have some concerns about this storm and we just won't know until the time comes. Glad my flood insurance is paid up. I am sure we will have some power interruption but can only help it is not for very long. This storm does not seem to be a quick hitter so whatever happens could be with us for a long stretch of time. We too have plenty of candles and batteries and since neither of us depend on much technology for life-we will only miss the use of the freezer and refrigerator and the associated loss of frozen goods.
Up in the Adirondacks we have very little concern about power outages-I have a 35KW generator that puts out 400 amps and with full tanks of liquid propane can run at full tilt for 5+ days. If we are there and only use the generator for waking hours and necessities we can run for 2 weeks or more. Good luck up there-but from latest predictions you should be pretty much OK for this one.

[FreshFish]

Re: 2012 Atlantic Hurricane Season: Non-Minnesotans arguing about the weather...

Sure looks like at the Jersey Shore we are going to have some excitement between Monday afternoon and Tuesday afternoon. And we have a full moon and high tide during that time period. Jenny and I are near the water and after Irene visited last year we are starting to prepare now. There is only so much we can do however since if power is lost for any length of time, that will be the biggest problem.

I have toyed with the idea of a telescoping wind power generator only for use in high winds. Not a windmill but a series of airfoils between twin conveyor belts to drive a generator. There would be something poetic about gathering electricity from the same storm winds that knock out the power lines.

Here in CT we've been getting robocalls from the town and the electric utility telling us what they are doing to prepare (given how woefully unprepared they were during Irene! )
While we live on relatively high ground, all the roads in or out go through low-lying areas and we were cut off for a day or two last time until the water subsided. One of the roads was completely destroyed and had to be rebuilt.

The story I'm hearing is that Manhattan might be particularly at risk. The rotation of the storm could have winds from the northeast driving water westward through Long Island Sound, which narrows as you go west, so that the surge would then travel faster and rise higher due to the confinement. Meanwhile, the oncoming storm itself is driving a second storm surge straight at the southern tip. If they both hit around the same time, who knows what might happen?

When Irene hit us last fall, it was a direct hit. It was one of the most exhilirating and most humbling events ever. We are (only?) a few miles away from Long Island Sound, and so the fury had not yet been abated by traveling over land. It also was around 3:30 AM and I'm sure my bleary-eyed state had something to do with my emotional responses. We were without power for about 8 days and felt giddy the whole time because we were safe! Fortunately, the trains were running and the roads were clear so that both of us could commute to work where there was plenty of power. It was kind of fun to live by candlelight at night, and we had plenty of batteries for the radios.

[DrDemento]

Re: 2012 Atlantic Hurricane Season: Non-Minnesotans arguing about the weather...

Sure looks like at the Jersey Shore we are going to have some excitement between Monday afternoon and Tuesday afternoon. And we have a full moon and high tide during that time period. Jenny and I are near the water and after Irene visited last year we are starting to prepare now. There is only so much we can do however since if power is lost for any length of time, that will be the biggest problem.

[walrus]

Partly cloudy, quite windy at Hollywood Studios,Disney World ,FLA

Wind is picking up now , clouds have thickened but still a decent day considering a hurricane is nearby

[walrus]

Partly cloudy, quite windy at Hollywood Studios,Disney World ,FLA

[FreshFish]

Re: 2012 Atlantic Hurricane Season: Non-Minnesotans arguing about the weather...

Latest Euro has a direct hit on the lower DelMarVa and then right over DC. I'm thinking of renting a generator for Sunday -- if I can find one.

One place to look is party rentals. They often have them to run those inflatable castles and such you see at rich kids' parties or corporate outings.