Stories tagged hurricane
Hurricane Ike: Galveston, Texas - 9/13/2008
Courtesy Coast Guard News
Hurricane season busy and costly in 2008
The 2008 Atlantic hurricane season has now ended. It was one of the busiest and costliest hurricane seasons ever. 2008 was "the only year on record in which a major hurricane existed in every month from July through November in the north Atlantic." According to the National Climatic Data Center, damages are estimated at $54 billion. That total is second only to 2005 which had Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
In all, there have been 16 named storms since the Atlantic hurricane season started on June 1. Eight were hurricanes, five of them major -- meaning Category 3 or higher. Three -- Dolly, Gustav, and Ike -- made landfall in the United States, though none was a major hurricane at the time of landfall.
Source: CNN
Tags : oct-15-1954Hurricane Hazel hits the Carolinas and Ontario
today hurricane Omar is getting closer to Puertorico
Hurricanes gather heat and energy through contact with warm ocean waters. Evaporation from the seawater increases their power. Hurricanes rotate in a counter-clockwise direction around an "eye." The center of the storm or "eye" is the calmest part. It has only light winds and fair weather. When they come onto land, the heavy rain, strong winds and large waves can damage buildings, trees and cars.
You can use StormPulse to track hurricanes, etc.
A graduate student at MIT has developed software that will help emergency managers plan better, safer, more efficient evacuations.
Hurricane Gustav: The dangerous storm is expected to make landfall Monday morning.
Courtesy NOAAAs Hurricane Gustav is gaining strength barreling across the Gulf of Mexico and charging toward the US coastline, authorities have ordered mandatory evacuation of citizens in the Gulf Coast region.
New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin made a fear-laden plea that all citizens of the Big Easy take the order very seriously. The mayor stated that storm surges as high as 18-24 feet are possible from Gustav and warned that there would be no services or aid available to anyone who decides to ignore the evacuation order. Some parts of New Orleans are still recovering from devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina three years ago.
Gustav started as a tropical storm earlier this week (Aug. 25), was upgraded to a hurricane as it moved over Haiti. It hit Cuba on August 30 as a Category 4 hurricane. Last night Gustav’s designation was lowered back to a Category 3 hurricane but is expected to gain power as it crosses the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico and makes landfall along the US coastline sometime tomorrow morning.
Despite being over 1000 miles away, Hurricane Gustav is having an effect on us here in the Twin Cities. The Republican National Convention starts tomorrow in St. Paul, and President Bush and Vice-president Cheney have canceled appearances there due to Gustav’s potential as a national emergency.
Gustav graphic loop from the NOAA
Video of Mayor Nagin orders evacuation
NOAA’s National Hurricane Center site
CNN report
5-Day Track Forecast Cone: 5-Day Track Forecast Cone: The black line and dots show the National Hurricane Center (NHC) forecast track of the center at the times indicated.
Courtesy NOAATropical storm Gustav is nearing hurricane strength as it is about to hit Jamica on its way to the Gulf Coast. Gustav has already been responsible for 23 deaths in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
After striking Haiti as a Category One hurricane on Tuesday Gustav weakened to a tropical storm but is gathering strength again.
Satellite image of Gustav
Courtesy NOAAAs the storm approaches the Gulf Coast is it possible it could make landfall near New Orleans. Current predictions place it just to the east, but folks in New Orleans are bracing for it all the same. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal declared a state of emergency yesterday and announced plans to begin evacuating coastal areas. Forecasters warned that the average error in landfall predictions at this point is about 300 miles, meaning Gustav could hit anywhere from southern Texas to the Florida panhandle.
Oil prices rose as a result of the possible impact the storm could have on oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. Some oil companies have already been evacuating crews from oil rigs.
Noted hurricane forecaster Dr. William Gray has offered up his 2008 Atlantic hurricane season predictions. (The season begins on June 1 and runs through November 30.)
Hurricane Katrina, 8/29/05: This image was taken by NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES).
Courtesy NOAA
Gray's team, working out of Colorado State University, is predicting an above-normal season, with 15 named storms, 8 hurricanes, and 4 major hurricanes (category 3 storms or higher). Why? A La Nina pattern creates cool water conditions in the Pacific and warm sea surface temperatures in the eastern Atlantic. Warm sea surface temperatures are critical to the formation of hurricanes.
What's "above average"? An average hurricane season produces about 10 tropical storms and 6 hurricanes. In 2007, 14 tropical storms formed, and 6 of those strengthened into hurricanes. But 2005, of course, was a record-shattering year, with 28 storms, including Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Here's the Science Buzz feature on hurricanes.
Buzz thread on Hurricane Katrina, started on 8/29/2005.
Buzz thread on Hurricane Rita, started on 9/22/2005.
Buzz thread on the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season
Buzz thread on the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season
Do you know about the 1938 hurricane that crashed into New England?
Share your natural disaster stories.
And, lastly, here are the hurricane names for 2008:
- Arthur
- Bertha
- Cristobal
- Dolly
- Edouard
- Fay
- Gustav
- Hanna
- Ike
- Josephine
- Kyle
- Laura
- Marco
- Nana
- Omar
- Paloma
- Rene
- Sally
- Teddy
- Vicky
- and Wilfred
Today, two years since Hurricane Katrina roared into New Orleans, the New York Times is featuring an interactive with videos (tagged to locations) about life in the city since the storm. Definitely worth a look.
Tidal surge from the 1938 hurricane: Image courtesy NOAA/NWS Historic Collection.Over on our thread about a crazy catfish skull, "brandon" recently left a rather off topic, yet still intriguing question:
hi there! i was wondering if there was a hurricane in new york in 1930???????
Why, yes, there was. Technically, it happened in 1938, and it was quite the whopper. On Friday, September 16th, 1938, a Brazilian ship reported a huge storm in the Atlantic and weather forecasters expected it to make landfall near Miami. Luckily for Miami, the storm turned north and everyone expected it to head out to sea. Remember: this was long before satellite images allowed us to track these huge storms in real-time.
Unluckily for people who lived in New York, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, though, the storm had just temporarily headed out to sea and was about to make landfall in New England. On the 21st, with no warning, one of the fastest-moving hurricanes ever recorded slammed into the New England coast. It caused massive damage in Long Island, giving the storm the name "The Long Island Express." Nearly 600 people died by the time it was all over.
Can you imagine what a storm like that would do to this area today? In 1938, Long Island was still somewhat rural and undeveloped. Today it's a densely-packed urban area full of millions of people, homes, and businesses. And, quite honestly, I hadn't ever even heard of this storm until today. I often think of New York as immune to these sorts of major storms. But it's actually very likely that a major storm will affect this region again in the next 50 years.
1938 Hurricane Links
The Great Hurricane of 1938 - a very in-depth history of the storm.
History Reveals Hurricane Threat to New York City - A modern perspective on the risks to New York city.
The regional perspective on the 1938 hurricane - Lots of great pictures of the destruction in Connecticut and Rhode Island.
Do you know anyone who remembers the 1938 hurricane? Do you live in this area and have a hurricane story? Share your stories.
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