07/05/05 -- TALK: Hurricane Dennis

[Jeff Snyder]

The news coverage of this storm is absolutely hilarious. I've been watching all three major news cable channels, and the overhyping/overreporting of the storm is incredible. For example, there's a reporter on MSNBC who's in Pensacola and reporting "severely swaying trees" which looked like they were in 30-35mph winds... She also showed a shot of some puddles near a roof drainage pipe/gutters and was talking of major flooding there. It was a freakin' 2" deep puddle -- We get huge puddles outside my apartment every time it rains for crying out loud. LOL Too funny...

 

[Sam Sagnella]

The northern eyewall is less than 15mi offshore, and Dennis has been averaging a few degrees west of north for the last few hours.

I just saw video on TWC from Gulf Breeze and the cameraman was pretty much in the ocean. Also, Dr. Forbes mentioned the possibility of eyewall tornadoes...I'm not sure I've heard of that before, but that would be insane video of a tornado from inside the eye of Dennis.

 

[Kevin Bowman]

The northern eyewall is less than 15mi offshore, and Dennis has been averaging a few degrees west of north for the last few hours.

I just saw video on TWC from Gulf Breeze and the cameraman was pretty much in the ocean. Also, Dr. Forbes mentioned the possibility of eyewall tornadoes...I'm not sure I've heard of that before, but that would be insane video of a tornado from inside the eye of Dennis.

Andrew had them, i think Fujita went down after and proved that suction vortices formed and did a lot of the major damage

 

[Tim Vasquez]

Are there any chasers or reporters between Pensacola and Fort Walton Beach?

 

[Kevin Walter]

a guy from CNN is standing on some road that's covered in storm surge - right afterward they went to the director of FEMA, who said that everything is going well so far, except for "reporters from CNN standing in the storm surge". hilarious. that anchor from CNN just radiates arrogance.

 

[Dave Kaplow]

The northern eyewall is less than 15mi offshore, and Dennis has been averaging a few degrees west of north for the last few hours.

I just saw video on TWC from Gulf Breeze and the cameraman was pretty much in the ocean. Also, Dr. Forbes mentioned the possibility of eyewall tornadoes...I'm not sure I've heard of that before, but that would be insane video of a tornado from inside the eye of Dennis.

Andrew had them, i think Fujita went down after and proved that suction vortices formed and did a lot of the major damage

Fujita called the eyewall vortices "mini swirls". I believe the existence of these vortices is not universally accepted by researchers, and their importance is still somewhat in doubt. In any event a mini swirl wouldn't really constitute a true eyewall tornado, since it would lack any kind of condensation funnel.

 

[Owen Shieh]

The eye is 14 miles out, and there are still now wind obs above gusts to 60 or so mph anywhere along the coast. This either means the storm is weakening, or the wind field is ridiculously tiny. In 30 minutes, a wall of high winds should hit Jim Cantore out on Gulf Breeze. I guess we can call this Charley-syndrome.

 

[Kevin Bowman]

The northern eyewall is less than 15mi offshore, and Dennis has been averaging a few degrees west of north for the last few hours.

I just saw video on TWC from Gulf Breeze and the cameraman was pretty much in the ocean. Also, Dr. Forbes mentioned the possibility of eyewall tornadoes...I'm not sure I've heard of that before, but that would be insane video of a tornado from inside the eye of Dennis.

Andrew had them, i think Fujita went down after and proved that suction vortices formed and did a lot of the major damage

Fujita called the eyewall vortices "mini swirls". I believe the existence of these vortices is not universally accepted by researchers, and their importance is still somewhat in doubt. In any event a mini swirl wouldn't really constitute a true eyewall tornado, since it would lack any kind of condensation funnel.

many researchers didnt accept the possibilities of microbursts either

 

[Owen Shieh]

Speaking of hyping....
There was a video of someone standing on the beach and leaning into the wind. One would probably freak out and say it is a 50-60 mph wind, but Dr. Lyons saw that and said, "His hat's still on. Wind's only 30-40 mph sustained."

 

[Derek Deroche]

Just got off the phone with Blake Michaleski...He and Doug Kiesling along with Jeff Piotrowski who is near by...are between Navarre and Gulf Breeze. They are reporting sustained hurricane force winds and awaiting the outer eye wall.

 

[nickgrillo]

The news coverage of this storm is absolutely hilarious. I've been watching all three major news cable channels, and the overhyping/overreporting of the storm is incredible. For example, there's a reporter on MSNBC who's in Pensacola and reporting "severely swaying trees" which looked like they were in 30-35mph winds... She also showed a shot of some puddles near a roof drainage pipe/gutters and was talking of major flooding there. It was a freakin' 2" deep puddle -- We get huge puddles outside my apartment every time it rains for crying out loud. LOL Too funny...

LOL Yes I saw that... MSNBC seems to be the worst at this...

 

[Sam Sagnella]

Dennis poised to make landfall along Santa Rosa Island and the Gulf Islands National Seashore. Winds down to 120.

 

[Dave Kaplow]

The eye is 17 miles out, and there are still now wind obs above gusts to 60 or so mph anywhere along the coast. This either means the storm is weakening, or the wind field is ridiculously tiny.

That's interesting. Is it possible that the really intense winds are confined to the eyewall? Doesn't seem likely, but this is a very tightly wound compact storm.

many researchers didnt accept the possibilities of microbursts either

True, and I make no claim as to the actual existence or importance of the miniswirl. Fujita was right about many things, and this could indeed be one more.


One good thing about Dennis' present course is that the winds in the bay should be mostly easterly, which would sweep water towards the bay's outlet rather than pile it up in the bay. This might make a significant difference when the real surge comes.

 

[Owen Shieh]

Latest satellite is showing this storm falling apart. It is no longer what it used to be. At this point, only cat. 2 - cat. 3 winds sustained should be expected. When a storm is weakening upon landfall, the surface winds lift above the ground. Wow, what a change.

 

[Philip Flory]

Rapid weakening before landfall seems to be a common trend with Hurricanes now days. That's what made Andrew special... it actually gained strength before landfall and didn't fall apart at landfall.