Posted on 08/16/2004 11:08:09 AM PDT by tbpiper
That's been doable for years. Just draw a line connecting all the mobile home parks in the county.
Tampa is a large market, so news media keeps saying it's going to hit there to get larger ratings.
Maybe Mr. Wilkinson should see just how tough it is and show how good he is at predicting in the Hurricane Hunt contest over at WxChat.com. The results for Charley aren't in yet, but let's see what a group of Met's and weather types were able to accurately forecast.
you are exactly correct. I am from the florida coastline, about 65 miles north of where charlie entered the atlantic ocean. We had some heavy wind and rain in my area, but as always, I am and was prepaired for the worst, thank goodness it was an easy night.
Part of living in florida is learning how to respect the intensity of mother nature during the summer to fall months, most everyone I know tracks all hurricaines, and has multiple contengency plans incase of an emergency.
All of the west coast except for the panhandle was under a hurricane warning! Not just the Tampa area! But you know how it goes, there will always be people that have to blame someone or something else for their own failings...including their failings to have a contengency plan for a hurricane that snuck up on no one!
He could use a class in probability theory also. As I recall, the huricane made landfall within the cone of impact probability. The forcasters continually update the probabilities that the hurricane will make landfall within 50 miles,I think it is, of some place. Because it didn't impact exactly at the place of highest probability doesn't mean that the forcasters failed.
Here's the only hurricane forecast the matters:
If you live along the U.S. Gulf or Atlantic coasts, you may be hit by a hurricane or tropical storm between June and November every single year.
Furthermore, if you choose to build a home in this region, it may be destroyed at any given moment by a storm.
In the event of a hurricane or tropical storm formation, the National Weather Center will track the storm and updates will be posted constantly.
If a storm approaches your area - GET OUT!
Mulling over the exact landfall location down to the mile may cost you precious time.
Relying on humans to predict the storm's intensity may prove inaccurate, as meteorologists do NOT - repeat DO NOT - control the storm.
A trailer house ain't gonna cut it.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
What a crock. Apparently, this idiot has never watched the weather forecasters discuss how difficult it is to accurately forecast the exact path of a hurricane. Why does this fool think they forecast using a 'cone' to show potential areas of landfall?
Do you think that he believes in Global Warming?
"Check out this maroon."
Yah. Yet another idiot doing some Monday-morning quarterbacking.
The folks in the area that WAS hit were warned also to evacuate. Many did not, sadly.
I've just moved to Minnesota. If the tornado warning sirens go off, I'm heading for the basement. If the storm passes, leaving me unscathed, I'll be very glad. I certainly won't blame the weather service for my good fortune.
This guy needs a common-sense transplant.
Oddly enough, though, I heard similar nonsense during the live threads.
Part of it was to get people out of Tampa. If this thing had struck that area, we'b be looking at 100 billion+ in damage and many more people would have been affected.
Tampa NWS unfortunately issued an extremely ominous statement on Friday at 11am. By that time, they should have had a very good idea that it was staying south of them.
Probably ought to post that next to the "Welcome to Florida" sign.
Red
DITTO!
I demand the President declare Florida a Hurricane Free Zone IMMEDIATELY! /sarcasm
Tom,
I'm with you!
Morons like this think everything is Bush's fault (and a result of global warming, which is, of course, Bush's fault).
I read satire into this guy's letter.
Yo,mr nwctwx, seem to have weather in your name as well as in your interests.
This man is clueless - Its impossible to predict with pinpoint accuracy where a hurricane will hit land. There's a zone of probability (as dirtboy pointed out) that is given, and evacuations are based on that.
yo=you
From my perspective up here in MA, the weather information handed out by the hurricane center seemed to be right on target. The fact that the hurricane seemed to almost turn into a tornado couldn't have been foreseen. It's a minute by minute storm. And that's why they call them 'weather forecasters'. They did the best they could with computer modeling unavailable in earlier years. The fact that Charley acted unlike any storm they'd had in forty years should be taken into consideration.
It would be great if this information made it to the Tampa Tribune as a rebuttal.
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