Posted on 08/03/2004 4:42:05 AM PDT by Clive
Avalon Pier is just north of the Wright Brothers Memorial in Kitty Hawk.
In the past seven days we have had over 12 inches of rain in Richmond. Hey Alex, exit stage right.
It's time for some Rain-X.
No problem: Fairfax, VA won't even know there's anything more than a summe shower. In fact, their "event" is practically over.
Worst-case scenario now in play for Hatteras Island: they are getting the edge of the eye wall, but none of the relief that the eye brings.
my friend vacationing and having family reunion at COROLLA
My niece has a question: why is the center of the hurricane cooler than the rest of it? (Is that the right question?)
Is it?
It could be worse. Hatteras is in the western eyewall, and the forward speed of the storm is subtracted from the sustained winds. It would be worse to be on the leading side of the eyewall, where the forward speed is added to the winds.
Hatteras is still getting pounded, however. You just can't take one of these storms lightly - recall Erin a few years back that suddenly jumped from a Cat1 to a Cat2 and veered inland with only a couple of hours warning. This storm is a similar situation.
U R CORRECT
The center of a hurricane has the lowest atmospheric pressure. That literally means that air -- and heat -- is probably escaping upwards somewhat. So I'd imagine that there might be a degree or two of temp difference in the eye.
That being said, the wind and the wetness of a storm like this will tend to cool everything within 100+ miles of the eye. Looking at the current charts, it's not that dramatic: it's about 82-83 degs. here in the Winston-Salem area. Raleigh shows 75 -- and they aren't in the storm -- while Hatteras is at 76.
Hurricanes is general need 80+ water to fuel themselves. Alex has had 84 degrees to work with over the past few days. That explains the seemingly dramatic strengthening.
By the way: Hatteras has now reported a 117 mph gust.
The center of the hurricane is the "eye". The size of the eye fluctuates depending on the winds around the eye. The colors you are seeing do not show temperature but are an indication of force. The darker the color, the heavier the rain and winds.
That being said, I can't really explain why this would or wouldn't be the case except that the winds continue around a circular core, and that speed around that core matters more than that change in shape of the core as it "moves" forward.
Thank you both very much.
In this case, I'm also a bit irked that the Authorities We Pay To Watch Out For These Things were asleep at the switch.
Meanwhile, seems that the Hatteras weather instrument has sustained some damage - no barometer, wind speeds looking a bit suspect (13??). Also the Diamond Shoals data buoy hasn't phoned home for three hours. Eye of Alex now due east of Hatteras.
It sure came up in a hurry, didn't it?
I am sure if I hadn't read it on FR, I wouldn't have been aware of this until yesterday.
I give credit to Accuweather - Joe Bastardi is their hurricane guy extraordinaire over there, and he saw potential for this almost a week ago. I got the info from WSJS Radio and because I subscribe to their premium service. But those guys have been all over this one!
Oh, and I should point out that he's already concerned about the next tropical wave or two (or three) lined up in the Atlantic.
You can see the usual hurricane season parade across the atlantic between the west Africa coast and the southern US coast.
The flag is getting shredded by the wind in the webcam shot at #55.
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