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Hurricane Jimena

Good morning,

It Looks to me that Jimena has just made landfall by clipping San Carlos ...

LOL ... San Carlos was my target days ago (had I gone) - Damn I'm good.

Well, not good actually, because I am in an office right now, and not there.

Anyway, the bummer is that it made landfall at 8:30 - 9 AM EASTERN time. Over there, local time is 5:30 to 6 AM (PDT), so most likely only the tail-end of the storm's brunt will barely make daylight. Another dark (night) landfall.

I hope any of the chasers there made it out well and got some footage (and / or a harrowing experience). The storm is not looking very good on satellite and most likely is weakening - alot.

It really stinks when you invest the time and money to go to a target, and the storm looks so impressive, then weakens just before coming in (you literally are saying "hurry up and make landfall" 5 hours before landfall when you see the 135 MPH on the last advisory drop to 110 MPH on the current one, knowing it's gonna weaken more in that 5-hours and there's nothing you can do about it.

Reminds me of those northern Gulf of Mexico storms. Must be brutally more painful in another country / the Pacific. I've seen people go chase in Asia from the US and bust (remember Krasa?) - Ouch!
 
Just heard from Jim Edds in Baja. Said Jeff and him went through calm eye of Hurricane Jimena, with light winds for about 45 mins. Recorded a pressure of 973mb early this am. Damage not too bad, mostly poles, roads and weak structures. Estimates maybe 90mph winds. Now driving back to Cabo and will send video and pics once in town. They fly out tomorrow morning.

Also noted that he ran into a fellow Chaser “Joshâ€￾ I believe he said. The cell coverage was very poor. Also said the locals were extremely nice and the food was great.

Just thought I’d pass that along.

Take care,
Jeff :)
 
I should of took more noticed of how Jimena looked.

And I can definately back up that Mexican people are nice people and make good food, my step mum is Mexican.

Wonder what weather will bring us next.
 
Update as of 7:30 PM We made it!!!

:D Jim & I just arrived back in the US from San Carlos MX late this afternoon.

HD video from San Carlos will be airing soon.

This is one of the most challenging & rewarding and wildest storm chases of all time.:eek:

So many things happen on this trip need to write a book you won’t believe it.:eek:

Jim & I are very exhausted will go into more details latter.
 
:D Jim & I just arrived back in the US from San Carlos MX late this afternoon.

HD video from San Carlos will be airing soon.

This is one of the most challenging & rewarding and wildest storm chases of all time.:eek:

So many things happen on this trip need to write a book you won’t believe it.:eek:

Jim & I are very exhausted will go into more details latter.


I cant wait for the footage
 
Just heard from Jim Edds in Baja. Said Jeff and him went through calm eye of Hurricane Jimena, with light winds for about 45 mins. Recorded a pressure of 973mb early this am. Damage not too bad, mostly poles, roads and weak structures. Estimates maybe 90mph winds. Now driving back to Cabo and will send video and pics once in town. They fly out tomorrow morning.

Also noted that he ran into a fellow Chaser “Josh” I believe he said. The cell coverage was very poor. Also said the locals were extremely nice and the food was great.

Just thought I’d pass that along.

Take care,
Jeff :)
Yep, I chased Jimena to Puerto San Carlos and had the pleasure of meeting Jim and Jeff, as we were all staying at the same hotel.

Jimena was an excellent chase subject-- with a surprisingly good punch for a weakening, 90-kt Cat 2. I was very pleased with it. And Puerto San Carlos ended up being the perfect location-- the center of the eye passed almost directly over the town.

I recall the calm lasting surprisingly long-- almost two hours-- from a little after 6 am to about 7:50 am MDT, when the wind quickly picked up again, reaching a whole gale by about 8 and a hurricane again by perhaps 8:10 am. Despite being on a weakening trend, the cyclone still had a decent structure when it hit Puerto San Carlos-- i.e., a calm, rain-free eye and a back eyewall that was as severe as the front. I felt the winds were in the neighborhood of 80 kt, so it looks like my estimate aligns nicely with Jeff and Jim's.

Overall, a good storm and a very satisfying chase. I was really on the fence about chasing this one, and I'm really gratified that I did.

P.S. For those who are interested, I do my primary blogging on Eastern US Wx, and my complete chase account is here: http://www.easternuswx.com/bb/index.php?showtopic=204934&view=findpost&p=4074259
 
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I also was able to travel to CaboSL to chase Hurricane Jimena, but I only got as far north as Tados Santos. On the flight back, I had the pleasure of meeting Jim and Jeff, and yes...they were both exhausted from their adventure.

The Associated Press caught up with me on Cabo's public beach and included me in a news story they released on 9/1/2009:

from MSNBC.com
Baja getting hit by slightly weaker Jimena
Poor residents fear looters even as Category 3 storm imperils their shanties


I will be producing a video, (meager as it is when it is compared to Jim's, Jeff's, and others who were at landfall)...and will notify you when it is completed.

Here are some pictures I took at Cabo and Cerritos Beach:

Off shore wave action
cabo01.jpg


Storm Spectators
cabo02.jpg


from Cerritos Beach - The Point Was No Place To Be
IMG_0229.jpg


from Cerritos Beach - Jimena's Eastern Flank Rotating Just Off-Shore...Landfall Just Hours Away
IMG_0242.jpg
 
Very cool pics--For me here is Az, its far milder. We have had thunderstorms past 3 days-nothing severe-I was expecting something a little more.
 
after looking at the NHC advisories it looks like Puerto San Carlos took a direct hit. I google map plotted the 5am 9/2/09 points (24.5, -112.1, 970 mb, 105mph) and then 8am points (25.2, -112.2, 973 mb, 100mph) and Puerto San Carlos was right on the line. My min. pressure was 973 on a calibrated barometer so the pressure did come up a bit after traversing the 20 miles from the 5am advisory to when it was right over us.
map.jpg


We had paved roads from Cabo to San Carlos. As long as you didn't go down a dirt road you were fine. On the way back, we crossed about 10 areas where the road was flooded. I volunteered to walk through them because we didn't know how deep the water was. Luckily we had a big SUV that rode high and Jeff made it through fine.

The toughest part was the last day when I got sick on some Mexican Gatorade. Thanks Jeff for getting me back home! Be thankful you live in a country where you can drink the tap water !!!! Here are some pics:
Jimena_IMG_0331sm.jpg

Jimena_IMG_0345sm.jpg

Jimena_IMG_0377sm.jpg

Jimena_IMG_0463sm.jpg

IMG_0415sm.jpg
 
Great photos

Fantastic photos there Jim, very very dramatic!

I hope you're feeling better and recovered from that bug!
 
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