[mewzilla]

Nuts. Incoming.

[jaz.357]

Outter Banks of NC.

Be ready for this one.

[Catspaw]

Batten down the hatches--thar's a blow acomin'

[I_love_weather]

[GOPcapitalist]

Looks like we're in for a lot of rain and other stuff.

[Dog Gone]

LITTLE OR NO SIGNIFICANT WEAKENING IS EXPECTED TO OCCUR UNTIL AFTER LANDFALL OCCURS.

That means that people need to prepare their property as best they can, and then evacuate. There are no heroes who ride out a direct hit from a storm of this magnitude. Just fools.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Andrew meets Agnes.

What will the economic impact be? Not good.

[dennisw]

my bet ....... it won't hit usa.... no direct hit just lotsa rain wind

[blam]

" LANDFALL ALONG THE U.S MID-ATLANTIC COAST SOMEWHERE BETWEEN NORTH CAROLINA AND NEW JERSEY BETWEEN 4 OR 5 DAYS IS APPEARING MORE AND MORE LIKELY."

The time to prepare is NOW! Good luck on the east coast.

[SamAdams76]

This storm is capable of massive damage wherever it hits. It should also be noted that the areas that this storm is expected to hit have had a very wet summer and the ground is saturated. SO it will not take that much rain to cause severe flooding. A widespread incidence of 5-10 inch rains in these areas (common for any tropical storm) could well end up causing more damage than the winds and ocean surf.

In years past, hurricanes have been "hyped" to the point that nobody takes them as seriously as they used to. Hurricane Andrew is an example of what a Cat 5 storm can do but that was over 10 years ago and memories are fading (especially outside Florida). The U.S. has been fairly fortunate with respect to hurricanes during the past 75 years. We've only had two truly catastrophic Cat 5 hurricanes make landfall during that time (Camille in 1969 and Andrew in 1992).

In the Northeast, the last truly devastating hurricane was back in 1938 and not many are still around that remember that one.

[jmc813]

Sorry for the caps...this is the way they post these things

Does anyone know the reason their alerts are always in caps? It annoys the heck out of me.

[nwctwx]

Where was that guy telling me I lived in Connecticut and therefore shouldn't comment on hurricanes? ;-)

[abner]

Bump!
This whole weekend was rained out. Grrr.... It was great to meet you though on Thursday.

[mikegi]

Hopefully, it will parallel the coast for awhile and dissipate a bunch. The forecast chart shows a rapid acceleration which should help weaken the storm.

This storm is somewhat weird. It has an extremely large eye. Look at the satellite images. I don't know what effect that has on the storm's intensity but I would guess it keeps the storm from strengthening.

My sister lives west of Philadelphia. If the storm follows the forecast track, she'll be just to the east of the center. Yikes!

[Old Professer]

The 200MB and 500MB charts are showing movement of the central trough and winds close to 100MPH; the high pressure remains strong just off the coast and this is still too early to bet the rent money on.

[SauronOfMordor]

If it comes up the Chesapeak Bay, it will get REAL interesting all along northern Virginia, Maryland, DC, and all of PA

[solitas]

A decent animation of 'our story so far':
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2003/ISABEL_graphics.shtml

Also good:
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2003/refresh/ISABEL+shtml/141434.shtml?

[Big Steve]

Does anyone in the Southeast remember Hurricane Hugo. It was the biggest disaster in American history until Andrew hit South Florida 3 years later. I had two friends who lost fathers in Hugo.

[kayak]

One important word of caution ..... please take heed!

IF any of you happen to have the eye go directly over you, do NOT be deceived and think it is all over. The worst is yet to come.

As a hurricane approaches, the winds gradually build in intensity.

..... If the eye goes over you, then suddenly, literally in an instant, the wind and rain cease ..... very abruptly. It becomes dead calm and still.

But when the eye passes over, the full fury of the storm resumes just as abruptly ..... no gradual increase this time. The winds can literally go from 0 to 120+ in a split second!!!!!

We had the eye of one of the minor hurricanes I experienced go directly over our house at night. My mother let us go outside very briefly. There were stars overhead in a crystal clear sky! But we only stayed out a literal minute. And it was really frightening when the winds resumed at full strength, even though we were safely back inside at the time.

You have no way of knowing how long it will take for the eye to pass over so DON'T take any chances!!!

[firewalk]

bttt