8/13/04 NOW: Charley [Florida]

[Jeff Snyder]

A good detailed map as it makes landfall (moving on a 030 deg track)... not very legible but it does have all of the geographic features. The eye is coming right up the bay.

I'm not up on whether the storm has a closed or open eye, but it would be awesome to FINALLY get some good pics from the eye from somebody. These darn things are always too weak or come onshore at night.

NBC2 and others have reporters there, and they should be able to capture some magnificient images as the eye passes right over there in the next 10-15 minutes... Incredible...

 

[Zach Bailey]

Latest hurricane hunter info:

941mb central pressure
148kt flight level winds in the SE quad.

 

[mrobinson]

A good detailed map as it makes landfall (moving on a 030 deg track)... not very legible but it does have all of the geographic features. The eye is coming right up the bay.

I'm not up on whether the storm has a closed or open eye, but it would be awesome to FINALLY get some good pics from the eye from somebody. These darn things are always too weak or come onshore at night.

NBC2 and others have reporters there, and they should be able to capture some magnificient images as the eye passes right over there in the next 10-15 minutes... Incredible...

passing over them now.

 

[Larry J. Kosch]

Live Video

I am watching a live video feed from a station near Fort Myers (waterbc_netvideo). The eye of the hurricane has gone thru Charlotte Harbor and has made landfall near the town of Punta Gorda. The radar graphics is really neat in that you can see a relief map of the harbor, roads and highways coming up in the eye of the hurricane. The live feed is still ongoing.

 

[Scott Gridley]

Channel 2 has a guy on the phone in the eye...amazing!

 

[Anthony Petito]

An ABC station that was posted earlier is talking to a reporter that is under the eye...

"The sun is coming out!"
"You can see it ever so slightly"
"It's so calm right now"

The reporter I believed described a closed eye... Reported high cloud tops, as conditions calmed down signioficantly.

 

[rdale]

Punta Gorda:

KPGD 132032Z AUTO 11076G95KT 1 1/2SM TSRA BR BKN007
BKN011 OVC016 24/24 A2875 RMK AO2 PK WND 11095/2032
LTG DSNT SE-W TSB08RAB01 CIG 005V010 PRESFR P0024
$=

Sustained 87 mph w/ gusts to 109 mph.

 

[Jeff Snyder]

{I moved my message to a new thread that is more relevant/appropriate}

 

[Tim Vasquez]

As Rob Dale indicated, the METARs for Port Charlotte tell quite a tale:

KPGD 132028Z AUTO 11065G83KT 1 1/4SM +TSRA BR BKN010 OVC016 24/23

     A2889 RMK AO2 PK WND 10083/2025 LTG DSNT SE-W TSB08RAB01 CIG

     006V012 PRESFR P0023 $=



KPGD 132032Z AUTO 11076G95KT 1 1/2SM TSRA BR BKN007 BKN011 OVC016

     24/24 A2875 RMK AO2 PK WND 11095/2032 LTG DSNT SE-W

     TSB08RAB01 CIG 005V010 PRESFR P0024 $=



KPGD 132044Z AUTO 3/4SM -TSRA BR 24/24 A2852 RMK AO2 VIS 1/2V1 1/4

     LTG DSNT SW AND W TSB08RAB01 PRESFR P0030=



KPGD 132053Z AUTO 1/4SM TS FG 24/ A2871 RMK AO2 LTG DSNT N AND E

     AND W TSB08RAB01E46 SLP722 P0046 60074 T0244 58391 $=

In other words, 109 mph and then wind reports ceased. I wouldn't be surprised if some debris took out the anemometer.

 

[Randy R Chamberlain]

What are the websites for the television stations?

Hey everyone..
We better hold our collective breaths for the people down in Florida right now!! I got Tampa Bay's channel 10 website what are some of the other websites for the television stations down there?

 

[Bill Hamilton]

Re: What are the websites for the television stations?

Hey everyone..
We better hold our collective breaths for the people down in Florida right now!! I got Tampa Bay's channel 10 website what are some of the other websites for the television stations down there?

Page 4 of this thread has other web links.
I am viewing http://www.nbc-2.com/ with my other computer but it won't come up on this one. Good luck.

 

[Mike Johnson]

Seems initial damage reports from Fox, web feeds,
CNN, etc., do not suggest cat. 4 damage, including the
massive storm surges predicted. It may be too
early to know for sure. The highest wind gust I've seen is 109 mph?

Mike.

 

[Carrie Halliday]

Following along with nbc-2.com. Thanks for the link guys, still no cable.

 

[Jeff Snyder]

Seems initial damage reports from Fox, web feeds,
CNN, etc., do not suggest cat. 4 damage, including the
massive storm surges predicted. It may be too
early to know for sure. The highest wind gust I've seen is 109 mph?

Mike.

Something very important to note is that the storm is/was compact in nature. In fact, winds >74mph (hurricane force) only extended to 30 miles from the center. I'm assuming the 110+ winds only affected a cross-section area of 10-15 miles. Unless an anemometer was in that area, chances are it wasn't directly measured...

 

[Randy R Chamberlain]

Listening on Tampa Bay's 10 news.. they have broadcast a UNOFFICIAL 129 m.p.h...