Replies

Right now, I see Irene’s biggest impact as an over-hyped, overblown ratings grabber

I could write a book about the folks who post comments on FR hurricane threads over these many years. Statistically, your genre of attitude comes from someone who lives in Michigan, Wisconsin, Idaho, or some other land locked flyover state. Your profile is void of information. You described a recent soaker, so I'm inclined to believe you don't live in Texas. Mr. Anonymous, from where do you proffer these opinions?

I am getting a bit more concerned about this storm. I look at the forecast trend, not just one forecast track. Over the past 36 hours or so, the trend has been steadily shifting the track eastwards. But this is from the 5pm Irene discussion:

Between 72 and 96 hours...there remains uncertainty as to whether Irene turns back toward the north ahead of a mid-latitude trough moving into the Great Lakes region at that time. The new ECMWF shows much more amplification of the trough... which has resulted in its track shifting over 100 miles to the west...and this skillful long-range model now defines the western edge of the guidance envelope. Overall...the guidance envelope has shifted a little westward at days 4 and 5.

So the trend has at least stopped if not shifted back to the west. Not good.

Hi NN. Winds picking up a little here 20-25 knots but Fowey Buoy off Miami shows 38 knots tomorrow with higher gusts. Then it heads North. Baltimore Canyon has some ominous predictions of 80 knot winds with 100 knots near the eye for the weekend with seas to 42 feet during the storm.

I cant believe some are going to ride it out on ocracoke island,really dumb.

from where do you proffer these opinions?

I live in the Peoples Republic of New York, near Danbury, CT about 30 miles from the Long Island Sound. My problem is not with taking precautions and staying on top of the situation. My problem is with a media that overstates and exaggerates the situation to build drama and hype in the name of ratings. Maybe Irene is the real deal this time; or maybe the media is overstating the threat to keep people watching.

In a similar situation, I can recall a number of occasions that the media has pumped a snowstorm into the potential blizzard of a lifetime even as the storm is moving out to sea and away from the forecast area and the weather is 50 degrees and raining. Because the media was more interested in viewership ratings than accuracy and complete honesty in the weather forecast, schools and businesses closed; employees didn't show up for work; meetings, events, and appointments were canceled; commerce slowed to a crawl; and emergency crews were put on overtime. This all happened hours before the first snowfall was forecast to hit the ground. The hit to the local economy had to be enormous.

My point is that if the lastest data and models show the storm shifting to the east of Providence and Boston, then don't keep reporting potential doom and gloom in places like the New York City area, New Jersey, and Philly, knowing that the chances of that happening are quickly diminishing.