H. Charley now a CAT 2 Hurricane, could hit Tampa as a CAT 3 Fri PM

NWS / Hurricane City / Local Tampa-Miami stations ^ | 8.12.04

[Bahbah]

Just funnin ya, but you knew that. Right! Cue Katie Couric voice on the "Right?".

[jwpjr]

As bad as it is there is some good to all the rain it will bring, especially on top of the good rains we've already had this year. My grandparents had a place on Lake Calm, up where you are, back in the early 50's and the water level in the lakes was at least 15 feet above what it is now. Those lakes have been suffering for years from Pinellas County getting most of its potable water from wells up in NW Hillsborugh County. I don't wish this storm on anyone, but the rain event will be helpful in replenishing the water table and aquifer in this area. It's been a long time since we've had anything even close to this sort of storm and the rainfall it can bring. It's storms like these over the thousands of years that helped make Florida what it is and without them we will slowly lose our lakes and rivers, etc.

[tapatio]

Andrew's peak winds were not physically measured. All possible wind speed indicators broke BEFORE Andrew's peak winds arrived, so a lengthy period of damage analysis was done. Evidence showed that wind speeds in Andrew's core were sustained around 165 MPH, with gusts well over 200-MPH, over a football field a second!

[oceanview]

the buoy reports should be interesting as this moves in:

http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/Maps/Florida.shtml

[Strategerist]

May have trouble making it that far N (Tampa). Looks like landfall could be Cape Coral-Ft. Myers.

Nice to see inAccuweather, er, AccuBlunder, err AccuWeather fail miserably compared to NHC though. Their track is well west of Tampa.

[I still care]

I have it, but I have no place to upload it to. If someone has a space, I can do so.

(It's all Bush's Fault)

[ErnBatavia]

You have to admit, there's nothing like watching a cumulonimbus clous fro a distance, and seeing the internal lightning bolts flash around!

Got to watch a bit of that just this evening, out here in the desert of California....the monsoonal moisture has wafted our way, bringing humidity and allowing huge, huge toonderboomper clouds to develop in the afternoons.

Those Marines over in Twentynine Palms (about where the clouds and lightning were) probably enjoyed it though.

[nwctwx]

That's true... I remember hearing that story in the months following Andrew.

[Gabz]

Lucky for him - this one is spelled with an "ey" instead of "ie" and so he claims it isn't him...........

[dawn53]

My MIL lives at The Fountains in Pasadena (used to be Majestic Towers). They moved them all this morning down to a sister facility that is in Sarasota, but inland.

They've also evacuated Palms of Pasadena.

My sister lives a couple doors from us and my teenager was down there helping her submerge her pool furniture. We've moved all our deck furniture into the garage, but I'm going to do one more walk-about in the AM and make sure there's nothing loose outside that can be a missile.

.

[Strategerist]

What was the strength of Hurricane Andrew? Stronger than this or same?

Basically next to impossible for Charley to be Andrew strength at landfall, but the areas Charley is likely to hit are much, much, much, MUCH more vulnerable to storm surge flooding than the area around Miami; you get areas miles inland underwater in SW Florida for even a Cat 3 (and storm surge isn't "your basement is wet and yard damp" it's "the ocean with waves pounding your house."

[jwpjr]

I was in Mobile when Donna came through, but my sister was staying with our grandmother here and told us about it. I remember scanning a bunch of old newspaper file photos of Donna a few years ago when the paper was doing a special section on storms. Pictures of people in the gym at Hillsborough High School which served as a shelter. Hampton Dunn's book about Tampa history has some great pictures of the 1921 storm. Even people like me who were born here have not seen a direct hit if they are less than 80 years old or so.

[nwctwx]

It's a tough call, it looks like it will parallel the coast for some time before coming inland. Based on upper air flows I was thinking it might come in a bit north of TPA, around the Cedar Key area. It's continually been south and west of model anticipation over the past 24 hours.

[ovrtaxt]

Lake Calm is about 2 miles from me. I'm on Garden Lake.

They slowed the rate of wellfield production about 3 years ago. Now our lake is quite high. We have SWFWMD scale in the water behind our property, and it's been staying fairly consistent.

[Gabz]

......I do get worried about our people from time to time, and this is one of those times.

Same here.

I'm just trying to do for the folks in Florida what so many of them did for us with Isabel last year - praying and playing.

[ovrtaxt]

"huge toonderboomper"

That would make a great FReepname.

[snooker]

Bush better be ready with aid for Florida after hurricane CHARLEY hits. Bush 41 likely lost Florida to Clinton because of the aid disaster to Florida after a hurricane. I can hear it now, Bush didn't ... (add your favorite words here).

This is political dynamite if Bush doesn't handle it right. I hope Bush knows what is needed and is preparing right now. Tomorrow wouldn't be too soon to announce help is standing at the ready.

CHARLEY looks like it could be a major cat 3 huricane by landfall.

[Howlin]

Ah, I believe his brother is the governor of that state; I imagine they've talked, doncha think?

But it IS a good point!

[jwpjr]

One of the worst natural disasters in US history was the storm of 1928 that pushed most of the water in Lake Okeechobee up into the flat lands north of the lake and then once the storm has passed and everyone had gone outside to check for damage the water came rushing back into the lake. Seems like the death toll from that storm was more than 2,000. Lake Okeechobee, although 721 square miles big, is only about 15 feet deep and a large storm just pushes the water out of the lake. It was after that storm that the Corps of Engineers built the dikes that surround most the lake now, and the canals that run from the lake out to the ocean and gulf.

[Fledermaus]

I can't believe no one at the Hurricane place thought to name Charley "Clyde". I know they didn't know they'd get two for one this season...but it would have made great headlines!

"Bonnie and Clyde rampage Florida!"