Claudette heads for South Texas - winds gusting to 140 mph; the storm is strengthening

Associated Press ^ | July 14, 2003 | Associated Press Staff

[MeekOneGOP]

Heads up, everybody !!

Some wind gusts, primarily to the east of the center, were up to 140 mph. Slow strengthening was expected and the storm had drifted to the northwest early Monday. It was moving about 6 mph.

"The circulation is strengthening," meteorologist Jesse Haro said Sunday at the National Weather Service in Brownsville. "That doesn't mean it's going to move any faster toward us, it simply means that it's becoming a stronger storm."

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[dirtboy]

Some wind gusts, primarily to the east of the center, were up to 140 mph.

I just read the 11AM advisory on weatherunderground, and there was NO mention of winds at this strength - and it would be way out of character for gusts to be in excess of two times the substained winds for a tropical storm.

[John H K]

I'm about 99.99% sure that some idiot at AP did the knots/mph conversion wrong.

55 kt tropical storms don't have 140 mph gusts.

Officially, gusts are up to 65 kts (75 mph.)

I've seen no recon or buoy or ship data with anything resembling 140 mph gusts.

[John H K]

The correct knots/mph conversion factor is 1.15

If incorrectly 2.15 is used on the OFFICAL gusts (65 kts) guess what you end up with:

139.75 mph.

I strongly suspect it was the AP reporter screwing up. This is unbelievably incompetent.

[MeekOneGOP]

Amazing. Leave it up to AP to screw this up. Thanks for catching that !

[SouthernHawk]

BTTT!

"She's gonna blow, Jim!"

[MeekOneGOP]

LOL ! Thanks.

Per dirtboy's and John's notes, I've asked the Admin Moderator to take out the part about the 140 mph gusts.

[John H K]

When a wire service doesn't use a specific science reporter, just a stringer, and there is anything REMOTELY technical about the story, I've seen some unbelievable errors.

[N. Theknow]

Yup.

"My Weatherbug" doesn't make any mention of gusts of that magnitude.

[ValerieUSA]

I'm slightly twisted, but I wish I could drive down to the gulf coast and take some pictures of the oncoming storm.

[Joe Hadenuf]

Some wind gusts, primarily to the east of the center, were up to 140 mph.

Can I be the first to say, this is just a mild breeze in Texas.........

[MeekOneGOP]

The storm surge is usually the worst part. It's the water that gets ya.

If ya do go, be careful !!

[mhking]

Hurricane City (http://www.hurricanecity.com/) is going to stream live coverage starting tonight around 8P ET. They'll have live feeds from the strike zone and take phone calls from there as well.

[humblegunner]

I wish I could drive down to the gulf coast and take some pictures of the oncoming storm.

Hurricane Party!!!
And "slightly twisted" means you'll fit right in!

[MeekOneGOP]

Thank you, sir !!

[MeekOneGOP]

Hurricane Party!!!
And "slightly twisted" means you'll fit right in!

AP
A surfer contends with waves on South Padre Island
as Tropical Storm Claudette approaches.

[trussell]

Is this in your corner of the world? If so, please direct some of the rain to make its way to SW Colorado. We are in our 5th year of "severe" drought, and our 11th year of diminished weather. WE NEED THE WATER!!!!!!

[ru4liberty]

Working link: Hurricane City

[MeekOneGOP]

I hope you get some rain soon, dawg-gone that El Nino, anyway !!

This storm is expected to hit around Brownsville. That's FAR FAR South Texas. I'm in a Dallas suburb about 70 miles from Oklahoma. I doubt we'll see any effects here. Maybe it'll head to Colorado, but don't hold your breath. :O(