I’ve been watching the vid & still cams at our beach in Broward.
The surf is up a bunch, the water level appears normal for the current tidal time, and the palm trees are moving more than I’ve seen. But they aren’t whipping. It’s been raining off and on for a few hours now.
At the MIA airport the wind has been 20mph gusting to 30mph since about sunrise. One hourly report was more like 30 gusting 40. The barometer, at 29.58 is definitely low. It was 29.72 at sunrise.
They have set out thunderstorm, tornado, and hail watches for overnight.
Meantime they’ve adjusted our odds for hurricane force winds down to 3-4%. We’re going to get tropical storm winds for sure, but almost certainly no hurricane. Meanwhile. Naples will eat the hurricane eye. The opposite of what everyone expected on Mon/Tue.
Having evacuated 1200 miles for just a bit of moderate wind I may set the Doper record for greatest overreaction. We’ll know in 24 hours.
And yes, that is the nature of the beast. We were sweating for those last 36 hours as the turn to the NW kept failing to happen in the end it was barely a half degree displacement but just enough.
AIl in all there’s something to say for the hurricane’s couple of days’ fair warning with a hundred mile margin of error over the rude surprise of the tornado or the earthquake that just shows up and clobbers ya right where you stand.
Our forecast is less dire now, too, with only tropical storm winds expected. But Irma’'s wobble has increased our local odds of tornadoes, and that’s what scares me. But I went to the farm today and boarded up windows, sealed the leak around the plumbing stack, and made up beds. We’ll probably scoot over there Monday morning. As long as the roof holds, we’ll be fine there - plenty of food and water, 2 generators, fuel, and an assload of books, coloring books, paper, crayons, coffee, batteries, flashlights, etc.
Unfortunately/hooray, my dad’s best friend and the Mrs are joining the little commune. Rick is 6 weeks out from quadruple bypass, so I’m glad he’s not trying to stay in his home on the marshes of Bryan County. But I think he’s about the third most annoying person on the planet. Hopefully, our 3 disabled fellows can watch TV for most of our sojourn, and we gals can be pleasant amongst ourselves. Or at least read quietly and drink coffee…
Speaking of us gals, has Butters checked in lately? I’m worried about her.
Some guy is so bored and peevish that he has decided to relieve his frustration with a gun. Yes, that is correct, he is going to shoot at Irma. It seems that, after announcing this cunning plan on some social media outlet, others have agreed that it sounds like a good idea. “Others” like tens of thousands. Who may also be shooting into the storm.
Therefore, I suggest, if you are getting out, stay safe. Wear a helmet, keep your head down, drive fast, wear goggles and keep the kids away from the windows.
Checking in. We’ve had a few nasty bands of tropical storm force stuff.
We had a good hour of non-stop tornado warnings, with at least one confirmed on the ground. Missed us though.
We finished a movie, and have switched back to live TV.
Eating well - tacos for lunch, chicken parm for dinner. Made a last minute decision to have cauliflower with a cheesy sauce as a side.
I have three guests crashing at my house - we’re all doing fine.
My sister is about two miles west of me, and has no electricity already.
I’ll check in later.
I get why you find it funny, but there’s a good reason why skilled signers use facial expressions that can seem over-the-top to hearing folks. In spoken language, a huge amount of our meaning is conveyed by tone of voice, not just the words we’re using. In sign, that extra layer of meaning is instead supplied by facial expression, shifts in body position, and modifications to the signs themselves (do the sign a little bigger, draw it out a little longer, etc.)
As someone who is just learning sign, I find that to be one of the trickiest things to get right. I’m too busy thinking about what my hands are supposed to do!
Hello. Checking in from Scott Air Force Base in Illinois. Got an EMERGENGY, EMERGENCY, EMERGENCY ALL PERSONELL IMMEDIATELY REPORT TO AIRFIELD FOR IMMEDIATE FLIGHT OUT. my friend and her two cats and me and my dog grabbed very little, texted ETA and got a ride on a troop transport. Thank God for the Us Navy and especially the US Air Force.
Hubs would not come as he had promised refugees a safe haven. Me and my friend are in a three bed, three bath large and nice townhouse on Scott. We did not even know where we were going. That flight was very loud. I even put earplugs in my dogs ears. I have a trank for pets and gave him a small dose and was able to hold him on my lap. We have been treated very well. All will be reimbursed.
Hubs and crew are at safe place and so far OK. They will be on the wrong side of the eye but I feel good in the house.
This is the furthest North I have ever been.Stay safe all. Will update on hubs when I can.
Good to hear. I had noticed the prog for Key West had really turned bad and you had decided to stay. Or they decided for you. Glad to hear they re-decided the other way. KW is gonna get whacked.
I’m just across the river from you now in western St. Louis. You’ll enjoy a few very nice if boring days here in the sunshine.
I just checked the winds at Key West. Gusting now to 60 knots or almost 70mph. The fat lady has begun to warm up. Singing comes at sunrise. Forward motion is slowing as expected. Gonna be a long night for the folks left behind.
Well, we heard from Chuck. Got out of Orlando in plenty of time, landed safe and sound, and is now at home. Whew. Hope things go as well for everyone else’s friends and family.
Power failed at our house at about 6am Sun. FPL reports it’s an isolated outage, but they also report about 10% of Broward is without power. That number will only increase as the day wears on.
Several beach cams are still working and we see rather high surf, trees swaying a bunch, and heavy rain. The ocean level is pretty typical, maybe up a foot or so. Our tides are now going out. Obviously those locations still have power. Other beach cams have gone offline.
Miami airport has had sustained winds over 50 knots = 58mph since about midnight. That’s also been true in Broward since about 4am.
They’ve rescinded our storm surge warning and all but rescinded any prediction for hurricane force winds. OTOH, Irma has slowed down a bunch while making her big turn. That was predicted but Irma has yet to settle on her new northward course, nor to speed up her forward progress. So it’s a very open question how long we’ll keep getting the comparatively light beating we’re getting. At 10 mph things begin to start improving this afternoon. At 5 mph it’s more like midnight, and with a corresponding doubling of total rainfall.
Far more concerning is how long Naples & points north on the Gulf coast will have to absorb their far more vicious beating.
Big Pine Key will be eating the right eyewall over the next 2-6 hours. Key West meanwhile will absorb the left eyewall over the same timeframe.
So who on the internet has strong video coverage of Irma? I am not talking about talking heads where you mostly see newscasters in a studio with some charts…
Your choice seems to be a talking head showing actual information, or a guy in a rain suit standing in a puddle in the lee of a building saying “Wow, these trees are really whipping” wile the camera pans around the same courtyard over and over. Or doing the same thing on a not-yet whipping beach.
All in all, you’ll learn more from the first folks.
Steady rain in Orlando(ish). Tornado warnings are going off but not near our area yet. No wind…yet. I’ll turn off power to the hot tub later this afternoon. Bathtub is full of water, we had a hot breakfast of pancakes and bacon and French press coffee and I just took a hot shower. I’m enjoying the electricity while I can. I’m watching the Outlander marathon now. I hope the power sticks around through the season 3 premier at 8p.
