Thursday, August 25, 2005

Katrina's Personality

Photo courtsey of WKMG-TV Channel 6, Orlando

Every tropical storm, it seems, has its own peculiar personality -- at least as experienced on Pensacola Beach.

Erin (Aug. 1995) was windy but relatively dry. Opal (Oct. 1995) was marked chiefly by a devastating water surge. Danny (July 1997) hung over Mobile forever, so it seemed, and actually emptied the bay of water. Georges (Sept. 1998) brought tons of rain and beach-eroding wave action. And Ivan (Sept. 2004)...well, everyone knows what Ivan was like; the evidence is still all around us.

So, what kind of personality does Katrina have? After speaking with state meteorolgist Ben Nelson, the Treasure Coast newspapers report that "Katrina has a large rain field but a small wind field. Tropical storm-force winds expand 70 miles from the center... ."

Governor Jeb Bush today passed along what he was told to expect for South Florida:
Storm surge is less of a concern for Katrina, which is expected to be a Category 1 storm by the time it reaches land, but rain is the biggest problem in the already soggy state, Bush said.

"This system will bring tremendous rain to the peninsula," he said.
That's south Florida, of course. There's no telling what personality defects Katrina may acquire by the time she hits the Gulf Coast early next week -- or where she'll make landfall. But you can follow her closely at Jim Williams' Hurricane City web site and get all the right (and wrong) guesses on the Hurricane City Message Board.

1 comment:

cookie christine said...

you guys up in Pensacola sure have gotten the brunt of some storms lately. I think it's because of all that voting for Bush thing two elections in a row.

Be safe!