CHARLEY BECOMES A (CATEGORY 4 Now!!) HURRICANE (18 ft. storm surge)

NHC ^ | 08-13-2004 | Forecaster Lawrence

[Jeff400000]

000 WTNT33 KNHC 131655 TCPAT3 BULLETIN HURRICANE CHARLEY INTERMEDIATE ADVISORY NUMBER 17A NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL 1 PM EDT FRI AUG 13 2004

...CHARLEY STRENGTHENS AS IT HEADS TOWARD FLORIDA WEST COAST...

A HURRICANE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE FLORIDA KEYS FROM THE DRY TORTUGAS TO THE SEVEN MILE BRIDGE...AND FOR THE FLORIDA WEST COAST FROM EAST CAPE SABLE NORTHWARD TO THE STEINHATCHEE RIVER. A HURRICANE WARNING MEANS THAT HURRICANE CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED WITHIN THE WARNING AREA DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS. PREPARATIONS SHOULD BE RUSHED TO COMPLETION.

THE TROPICAL STORM WARNING FOR THE FLORIDA AND GEORGIA COASTS WERE RECENTLY EXTENDED SOUTHWARD TO JUPITER INLET FLORIDA AND ARE NOW IN EFFECT FROM THE SOUTH SANTEE RIVER SOUTH CAROLINA TO JUPITER INLET. A TROPICAL STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE FLORIDA KEYS FROM THE SEVEN MILE BRIDGE TO OCEAN REEF...AND ALONG THE SOUTH FLORIDA MAINLAND FROM OCEAN REEF TO EAST CAPE SABLE...INCLUDING FLORIDA BAY AND LAKE OKEECHOBEE.

A HURRICANE WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM FLAGLER BEACH FLORIDA NORTHWARD TO THE SAVANNAH RIVER NEAR THE GEORGIA/SOUTH CAROLINA BORDER.

A TROPICAL STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE SOUTHEASTERN U.S. COAST FROM OCEAN REEF NORTHWARD TO SOUTH OF COCOA BEACH AND FROM THE SOUTH SANTEE RIVER NORTHWARD TO OREGON INLET NORTH CAROLINA INCLUDING PAMLICO SOUND.

AT 1 PM EDT...1700Z...THE CENTER OF HURRICANE CHARLEY WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 25.7 NORTH...LONGITUDE 82.5 WEST OR ABOUT 70 MILES SOUTH-SOUTHWEST OF FORT MYERS FLORIDA.

CHARLEY IS NOW MOVING TOWARD THE NORTH-NORTHEAST NEAR 20 MPH AND THIS MOTION IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TODAY WITH AN INCREASE IN FORWARD SPEED. ON THIS TRACK...THE CENTER OF THE HURRICANE SHOULD REACH THE COAST IN THE VICINITY OF CHARLOTTE HARBOR LATER THIS AFTERNOON.

RECENT REPORTS FROM A RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT INDICATE THAT THE MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS HAVE INCREASED TO NEAR 125 MPH...WITH HIGHER GUSTS...CATEGORY THREE ON THE SAFFIR/SIMPSON HURRICANE SCALE. THESE STRONGEST WINDS ARE CONFINED TO A SMALL AREA WITHIN A FEW MILES FROM CHARLEYS CENTER.

HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 30 MILES... 45 KM... FROM THE CENTER...AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 105 MILES...165 KM.

ESTIMATED MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE IS 964 MB...28.46 INCHES.

STORM SURGE FLOODING IN THE FLORIDA KEYS WILL BE SUBSIDING LATER TODAY. STORM SURGE FLOODING OF 10 TO 13 FEET IS EXPECTED NEAR AND SOUTH OF THE WHERE THE CENTER CROSSES THE FLORIDA WEST COAST. STORM SURGE FLOODING OF 4 TO 7 FEET ALONG AND NEAR THE GEORGIA COAST IN THE NEXT 24 HOURS WITH LESSER FLOODING TO THE NORTH AND SOUTH.

RAINFALL TOTALS OF 4 TO 8 INCHES ARE LIKELY ALONG CHARLEYS PATH ACROSS THE EASTERN UNITED STATES. THESE RAINS COULD CAUSE LIFE-THREATENING FLASH FLOODS.

ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS PARTS OF SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL FLORIDA INCLUDING THE FLORIDA KEYS TODAY.

REPEATING THE 1 PM EDT POSITION...25.7 N... 82.5 W. MOVEMENT TOWARD...NORTH-NORTHEAST NEAR 20 MPH. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...125 MPH. MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE... 964 MB.

FOR STORM INFORMATION SPECIFIC TO YOUR AREA...PLEASE MONITOR PRODUCTS ISSUED BY YOUR LOCAL WEATHER OFFICE.

AN INTERMEDIATE ADVISORY WILL BE ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER AT 3 PM EDT FOLLOWED BY THE NEXT COMPLETE ADVISORY AT 5 PM EDT.

FORECASTER LAWRENCE

[LadyPilgrim]

You are so kind!
Thank-you for the input.
I'm here in Alabama, and all we got was rain from Bonnie.
We needed it.

This is good to know about how to give.
ie-writing the disaster name on the check.

But I do remember the mess about 9/11.
And people were meaning every penny go to our citizens.
The Red Cross probably got more out of that disaster than all the others combined!

And yes, many prayers for the folks down there and everywhere these hurricanes have disrupted their lives!

I pray for the effort to get them back to normal.
And comfort to the families that have lost loved ones.

And welcome to Free Republic!

[sissyjane]

Thanks for the info.
I'll be praying that Earl does not take the blue path.
Not that I want any other state to get hit, but Florida can't take it again.

[Gabz]

I agree with you - all around.

[CindyDawg]

I turned on the tv to Fox. The talking heads were fussing about the NJ Governor so I switched to CNN. They are covering Florida but asking such goofy questions. How many dead and injured ? When is the power coming back on? What's taking so long? Where's the big trucks? My favorite. They acknowlege the hospitals destroyed and only an ER open and then ask suspiously why they are seeing all these ambulances coming and going then. The officer seemed to be counting to ten and then explained, well if the hospitals are usable then the people that were in them have to go to other hospitals. That's when I switched back to Fox. Yall want to hear the newest update about Scott? :') I just turned it off.

[Gabz]

I know what you mean........hubby had ESPN on for awhile watching the World Series of poker - which is actually a lot of fun!

[angcat]

Yes it is hard to understand why because within the last foru years many business have opened in Hazleton and their is a real estate boom in the entire area. I would love to put up a sign "thank Bush". But they do not see it that way. Eight years of Clinton and this place was crapola.

[Kay Ludlow]

That WPTF Weather Guy - Accuweather's Joe Bastardi - has his own pay for his expertise business linked there at the WPTF website! Good for him. Entrepreneurize his Weather acumen. ....but I don't plan to pay for the expertize...

I do pay for his and Joe Soebels expertise. Living and traveling a lot in Pennsylvania, my primary concern is the winter storm season, and Joe's columns have shown him to be pretty dang good at those too. While I don't know him personally, it probably helps his forcasts for my hometown that he lives there too ;-)

[Gabz]

This bugger is pretty well done..............

It has stopped raining here and we never got any real wind.

Continued prayers for the folks in Florida - but thank the Lord we missed it this time.

But now we start watching Danielle and Earle............SHEESH.

I'm headed to my pillow - talk at you both tomorrow or soon!!!!

[Severa]

Yeah I think the worst the wind got here was about 30ish MPH. Some minor flooding in our courts...like you said now we turn our eyes to Danielle and Earl...

[mystery-ak]

Im glad youare okay...my sister is heading to her home on Sanibel Island tomorrow to check their damage.

[Wampus SC]

"However, Florence which you mention is familiar. I stayed there a couple of weeks ago enroute to NMyrtle Beach. As I understood from the Weather Channel last night, anyone between the ocean and Rt 501 were being evacuated. Where did it come ashore? Little River? Ocean Isle? Wilmington? (I stayed in Ocean Isle for a time after leaving NMB. Not much room for margin there. At high tide, the canals' water is already within 3-4 feet of cars parked under the beach houses....) How about the Outer Banks? Did it hit there? I am scheduled to arrive there with friends on Dec 26 provided the place is still there...."

I'm glad your relatives in Florida are OK.

It hugged the coastline so close, that earlier there were several different landfall reports. They've now settled that landfall was near Georgetown, and it moved parallel to the coast, just inland. It went thru Pawley's Island, Garden City, Myrtle Beach, etc. I watched the eye go over the ocean front at Myrtle Beach on TV, just after some 75mph winds. All these areas got some building damage, lots of flooding, lots of trees down, power out. Conway, 15 miles inland from Myrtle Beach, had lots of damage too.

Then it went near Little River on into NC. It was more inland than before, passed east of Wilmington. It didn't hit the Outer Banks, but stayed on the mainland side of the sounds, then exited into the Chesapeake Bay thru Norfolk/VA Beach. I don't know how Ocean Isle might have been affected.

I've been trying to reach relatives in Georgetown, Litchfield, Pawley's Island, Myrtle Beach and Conway; but the lines have been jammed.

[Wampus SC]

"If I learned my geography from the national media I would think Wilmington, either DE or NC, was a suburb of Philadelphia and nothing existed between NYC, Philly, DC, Atlanta, and Miami."

I saw one reporter say, "Georgia, Myrtle Beach, and North Carolina". I usually like it that they don't know where SC is, but not today.

I also learned that at least one ABC News reporter thinks Wilmington, NC is on the Outer Banks.

[Gabz]

I don't think we ever even got 30mph - can't say what happened on the coast or the Bay side but inland, all we've got to worry about is the fact it still hasn't stopped raining.

I just am looking forward to a couple of days of everyone drying out for a few days before anymore. Then I will start worrying about the rest of them coming.

[Gabz]

On Sanibel?

Please post about that after you here from her. I have always loved Sanibel.

[Gabz]

You obviously understand exactly what I am saying.


I normally prefer no one knowing where DelMarVa is - but if they are going to mention it - I would at least appreciate them getting it right.


At least one FNC talking head thinks Virginia Beach and Norfolk are part of the DelMarVA Penninsula.

[ZOTnot]

I hope all of your relatives are OK! All those areas in which they live seem to be the affected areas!

Thanks for letting me know. Still no reports here other than the current status, that the storm is moving up the coast, but no details about when it first encountered the east coast! (And too, other than FR, not many details about any assessments regarding the west coast of Fla.)

[Wampus SC]

"They've now settled that landfall was near Georgetown, and it moved parallel to the coast, just inland. It went thru Pawley's Island, Garden City, Myrtle Beach, etc. I watched the eye go over the ocean front at Myrtle Beach on TV, just after some 75mph winds.

This has been amended. NWS now says that along that stretch it was just a partial landfall, with part of the eye over land and part over water. They now say that the full "official" landfall was just a tad past the SC/NC border.

[stlnative]

Erica Austin removes her pet bird from her home in Punta Gorda, Fla., where her father has painted a stern warning against looters, after Hurricane Charley passed Saturday, Aug. 14, 2004. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

[Gabz]

Erica's dad is very smart!

[Wampus SC]

"I hope all of your relatives are OK! All those areas in which they live seem to be the affected areas!"

Thanks. Yep, they're all in affected areas. I'm the only one who's any distance inland. I might have to go down there tomorrow to check things out.