Phoenix is a balmy 115 this time of year. No winters or hurricanes though.
Mmm, I’m on board with that!
The good news is right now the center out over the gulf. So the state so far is getting the outer tendrils, not the core meaty part. All of the wind and most of the severe rain is still happening over the Gulf.
Florida is also pretty darn big. Not so wide that a hurricane can’t straddle it, but they don’t stay violent too long after the center gets on land. But Florida is also very, very long.
Now at 6pm we’re getting warnings of rain heading our way. Outside it’s solidly cloudy and a bit windy, but nothing remotely dangerous. Cars and pedestrians are going about their lives normally. It’ll rain off and on, but mostly on, until probably mid-morning. Some will be torrential, some will be just steady. I’d be amazed if we had any material flooding right here. But somebody someplace in the Greater Miami area in a low spot with crappy or clogged or failed storm drainage will awaken with their house in a lake. All but guaranteed.
The folks farther north on the west side of the state will have a very different experience.
It’s a little after 7 pm here on the gulf coast. It’s cloudy, and we had a drizzling rain for a little while, but it’s otherwise uneventful right now. (I believe the excitement we get will be in the middle of the night).
The grocery stores did close at 5 pm, and the gym wasn’t as packed as it sometimes gets, but I see no panic or concern so far.
We had one blustery thunderstorm appear at a bit after 6pm. Chased people indoors, rained like nuts for 5 minutes, then tapered off to nothing. Nothing terribly unusual about a gusty thunderstorm around here. It moved off after a few minutes and now, at 7:30pm, the wind that had been going all day has all but died. Which is a bit confusing since we’re well within the overall circulation that extends for 400 miles from the center. It remains gray and warm and humid.
The radar suggests another rain band is coming to arrive in 60-90 minutes, but it’s not very intense. And seems to be melting as it comes; raining out all the water. I’m a bit surprised. We might have a mostly dry overnight.
Kinda looks like the Tampa / St. Pete area might get some hefty thunderstorming from 9 to 11pm. But nothing more than might occur on any summer night in FL.
The best hurricanes are the ones that miss land. So far Idalia is doing an pretty good job of that, net of a bit of the Yucatan & Cuba. Tomorrow the test will come.
The One To Watch, IMHO (as a former Fort Myersian) will be the storm surge on the Gulf Coast.
Did you butter the edges with roofing pitch? Something I got from This Old House and it really works well in high winds. I shingled my garage and the last time we had 100 mph winds I looked out and the roof looked like it was painted on. My neighbors all had shingles flapping in the wind.
Reuters August 29, 2023
Hurricane Idalia’s path: What to expect when it hits Florida
- A “king tide” - the highest type of high tide, caused by the extra gravitational pull that occurs when the sun and moon align with Earth - is also expected on Wednesday, which will likely exacerbate the surges from Idalia.
that could add a couple of feet to the tide.
Is it weird that I feel bad about the gulf coast? That part of the coast is so peaceful, like it’s a giant bay. Plenty of plants growing right down into the water and animal sanctuaries without so much as a barrier island. I suppose the plants could make the coastline more resilient and resistant to erosion but this will be wind and big waves not often seen in that part of the state.
But do they have a generator in case they lose utility company power?
ETA: @Mr.E two above.
Depends on what you mean by “not often”. You’re right that on a normal lazy afternoon the northeast Gulf is pretty calm.
But the reason that whole area has been undeveloped the last hundred years is precisely because it gets hurricanes regularly. Yes, they thrash the coastal plants & coastal biota. Which bounces right back because that’s what nature does. And their presence acts as a natural barrier which keeps the damage mostly right along shore, not miles and miles inland.
Thirty years in Floriduh absolutely had me inured to hurricanes. Until Ian last year. Two days in my house without power smacked the smug right outta me. I’m grateful and relieved that my little corner of Hell won’t get a direct hit. Unfortunately, the infrastructure here is poor to say the least; power and cable companies talk about when, not if, there will be a disruption of service.
Btw, I’m in Tampa Bay area and as of now we’re having heavy(ish) rain, and no overly heavy winds(yet).
Keeping a good thought for you all over there in north FL. Looks like it’s going to be a rough day. Be safe.
Update from brother (inland SE of Tampa)
Most of the bad stuff associated with a hurricane missed us as the track moved to the West. We did get 3 inches of rain with more coming today and tomorrow. No high wind.
Brian
Technically, we could still get tornadoes…but I think we dodged the bullet today, y’all! Woo hoo!
About an hour north of St Pete, we got heavy rain, but no flooding, and I didn’t lose power.
The area that did get hit was fairly rural/undeveloped, so it won’t go down as one of the most devastating storms in recent memory.
Actually, that area of Florida (the “big bend” - I’ve never previously heard it referred to as that) never gets hit with hurricanes.
I’ve been listening to FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell giving a press conference.
She’s awesome, in the finest tradition of civil servants – smart, well-spoken, great command of the facts, savvy, apolitical, responsive, with gravitas.
Long Live The Deep State!!
Down here in Ft Myers, we have just gotten bursts of heavy wind and rain. Heavy as in normally it would be considered heavy, not close to hurricane-level heavy. So I guess Idalia saw that Ian didn’t leave anything for her and headed for a more target-rich environment. County government was off yesterday and today. And I got PTO for both days. Not bad for us down here. My friends keep posting photos of “Storm surge” around here. Not even close to a surge. It’s just the normal flooding we get from heavy rain.
Total non-event in Miami. Not even rain overnight. was clear and warm and dry at sunrise, with reducing winds.
Kingsland, GA, here — we lucked out big time, storm went west of us by about 50 miles, heading almost straight north. We got very little rain and no wind until it was passed, and then nothing horribly strong. Power blinked off and on a half dozen times then went out for 10 - 15 minutes. And that was it.