Hurricanes, Typhoons & Cyclones, oh my!

What I read in the paper and heard on the radio this morning, from memory:
  • An unusual "high pressure ridge" to the Northeast of the storm was expected to prevent its moving into the Atlantic, deflecting it to the West. Meanwhile, the Appalachian Mountains could "catch" the storm and keep it from moving. A similarly-stalled storm dumped four feet of rain on greater Houston last year.
  • The NOAA was predicting simultaneous storm surges and rain runoff from the Appalachian Mountains. Streams and rivers coming down from the mountains could see flash-floods while storm surge hits the coast. The area has already seen seasonal rainfall, so the ground is soaked and the water table is already high, so low-lying communities may flood almost immediately.
  • Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina and South Carolina had declared states of emergency. Georgia hadn't, yet.
  • North Carolina had issued a mandatory evacuation order for its coastal counties. State police have directed traffic flows on four major highways inland, reversing the direction of travel on the Eastbound sides. As many as a million people are expected to be on the road to somewhere today.
  • The US Navy had ordered a whole bunch of ships to sea. Camp Lejeune is also right in the bullseye.
  • The National Guards had been mobilized, and FEMA was preparing, but the President hadn't yet issued a federal state of emergency, which would release funds to the states.
  • Dozens of swift-water rescue teams from across the country are preparing to go to the area. Virginia alone already has 21 such teams standing by.
 
Wilmington, NC. The little weather app on the Windows start button is forecasting rain and winds up to 36mph. (yes, 36). One of my neighbors is waxing his surfboard. I didn't ask if it was for indoor or outdoor use.
 
This is such a big story that today CNN's opening story was about this storm, not about Trump's latest outrage. Indeed, it wasn't until just before the first commercial break that CNN brought up Trump's calling Puerto Ruco's fiasco "an unsung success." :gripe:
 
Zkribbler said:
This is such a big story that today CNN's opening story was about this storm, not about Trump's latest outrage. Indeed, it wasn't until just before the first commercial break that CNN brought up Trump's calling Puerto Ruco's fiasco "an unsung success." :gripe:
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NPR is nonstop storm coverage so far, The Washington Post temporarily lifted its per-day limit on free articles so people could read everything storm-related, and even the BBC reported on it early this morning.
 
The storm's track has moved such that it won't be affecting DC at all, except maybe indirectly.
 
Lexicus said:
The storm's track has moved such that it won't be affecting DC at all, except maybe indirectly.
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Too bad; I'd like it to shut DC down for a few weeks.
 
I read somewhere that there are 13 nuclear plants in the area of the storm's possible landfall. I don't know how many are potentially vulnerable to flooding.
 
I read that the US Navy has set "Sortie Condition Alpha" and "Tropical Cyclone Readiness Condition III" for the Hampton Roads area, Norfolk, Little Creek, and Oceana. An aircraft carrier, USS George H. W. Bush, has already bounced to Florida. An amphibious ship, USS Kearsarge is coming to pick up helicopters from the naval air stations, which it will then use to assist with rescues ashore, after the storm has passed.

I Googled "sortie condition alpha", but I only get references to the storm preparations. Any sailors here? Is "sortie condition alpha" what it sounds like? "Everybody out"?

The US Coast Guard is also getting ready to rock n' roll. One thing I never thought of before, the Coast Guard has to account for and repair all of the navigational equipment on the coastline after the storm. Buoys, markers, signals. Do we still use any lighthouses?
 
Lexicus said:
The storm's track has moved such that it won't be affecting DC at all, except maybe indirectly.
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Yes, I see that a recent theory that Florence would make a hard left at the coastline is gaining acceptance. Georgia is declaring itself a disaster area.
 
~36 hours with the eye hovering near/off the coast is really unfortunate news. I'm hoping the real track pushes that inland before it stalls. The rain flooding is going to be bad regardless, but the Carolina coasts on the side pushing storm surge water in rather than out is even worse. If it follows center of current track NC will have it much worse than SC or GA. I don't know how the coastal waters/depth are leading into NC but I'm worried there's significantly more water available to push than there was with Irma.

Zkribbler said:
Yes, I see that a recent theory that Florence would make a hard left at the coastline is gaining acceptance. Georgia is declaring itself a disaster area.
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Definitely a sensible move by GA but I think that would impact SC the most absent extreme deviations.
 
Super Typhoon Mangkhut is forecast to be the strongest storm since records have been kept as it skirts the northern Philippines and takes aim at Hong Kong, which has already raised its highest warning: a Signal 10.
 
Zkribbler said:
Yes, I see that a recent theory that Florence would make a hard left at the coastline is gaining acceptance. Georgia is declaring itself a disaster area.
Click to expand...

That was basically where the models went overnight and yesterday afternoon. Yesterday there was still one model (forget which one) showing a more northerly track that would probably have marginally affected the DC area. But overnight they all moved into pretty tight agreement on the southwest turn.

The real problem with this storm is going to be the slowdown, which will likely cause it to dump multiple feet of rain on the Carolinas, parts of Virginia, and Georgia. Also some speculation among my more knowledgeable-in-meteorology friends that it may briefly brush Category 5 status before weakening before it makes landfall. IIRC it is currently forecast to make landfall as a Category 3 storm.
 
Typhoon, hurricane, cyclone... First they should decide how to call it. :shake:
 
Thorgalaeg said:
Typhoon, hurricane, cyclone... First they should decide how to call it. :shake:
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Synsensa said:
They did decide how to name it. They're based on location.
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Right. In the Southern Hemisphere, they're cyclones. In the Northern Hemisphere, east of the International Date Line, they're hurricanes; west of it, they're typhoons. I think they have different seasons, too. Summer and Winter are flipped in the two hemispheres, for instance, and these storms rely on warm oceans.
 
$10 million transferred from FEMA to immigration enforcement.

The Trump administration transferred nearly $10 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency earlier this year to fund immigrant detention and deportation efforts, according to a document released Tuesday by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore).

The lawmaker first shared the documents with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, saying that the Department of Homeland Security requested the money “just as hurricane season [was] starting” and as it was attempting to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the midst of its new “zero tolerance” immigration policy.
Click to expand...

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entr...cane-jeff-merkley_us_5b9880fee4b0162f4731ee03
 
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