Folks along the East Coast are starting to feel a little persecuted lately. And perhaps rightfully so.
First it was that giant heat wave (which, admittedly, affected more than just the East Coast). And then it was yesterday’s Earthquake. With the exception of maybe Charleston, S.C., earthquakes are practically unheard of in these parts.
Now, it’s Hurricane Irene, a Category 3 storm that’s knocking on our door.
Yep. It’s looking rather nasty.
But consider this. At midday Sunday, the scientists at the National Weather Service’s National Hurrican Center predicted that then-Tropical Storm Irene would become a minor hurricane and then pass over South Florida in the week hours of this coming Friday.
By midnight, they had revised their guess: Irene would strike the Jacksonville area instead Friday night.
By Monday morning, forecasters said forget that Jacksonville thing. Irene will develop into a major hurricane and then smash into Charleston Saturday morning.
Tuesday morning brought another major revision to the prediction. Irene will indeed be a major storm. But instead of Charleston, the hurricane will make landfall just East of Wilmington. The eye will pass over Hampton Roads early Sunday.
Now, that got our attention. But I’ve been noticing the obvious: With each revision, forecasters have moved the expected track more and more to the east. So I wasn’t surprised today when the new revises today show the storm merely brushing past the Outer Banks on Saturday.
In addition to checking out the latest National Hurricane Center data, I also enjoy zipping over to my very favorite weather site, the WeatherUnderground and checking out the tracks generated by the computer models.
As you can see, all of the computer simulations take Irene well to the east of us. In fact, you can see in that map on the right that the official forecast track — shown in white — is on the western edge of the simulated track data.
So I’m not terribly worried about major Hurricane Irene. Sure, it could still veer to the left and smack us pretty hard. But most likely, it won’t. In fact, I’m hoping it doesn’t stray too far East of here. We really need the rain.
Here’s the most recent prediction map in its entirety from the NHC, as of moments ago.
We’ll see what happens next, I suppose.
In the meantime, here are some hurricane resources for you.
Find the most recent official hurricane data at the National Hurricane Center.
Find the most recent high-resolution satellite images on the GOES Project Science home page. If you’re looking for a nice satellite image of a hurricane, you’ll probably want “East USA large image,” on the right. There’s plenty more there to choose from, including fabulous video. So heads up, online producers.
All this information is paid for by your tax dollars, so — by law — it’s in the public domain and free to use. Be cool and give Uncle Sam a credit, though. Please.
The WeatherUnderground is not in the public domain. But if you find something there you can use in a graphic, I suspect they’d be tickled to be cited as a source. Find the WeatherUnderground’s tropical storm page here.
Why not set aside a page or a half-page for tips on how to prepare for a hurricane? You can get all the info you need from FEMA.
