This has the makings to a very serious storm as it is expected to sit over the Carolinas after landfall due to the lack of steering currents… It won’t be Harvey, but the rain will be epic…
The White House is monitoring the situation, and has ordered FEMA to insure an ample supply of paper towels for the resident to toss.
FEMA will also break out cryogenically stored Trump steaks for the locals to buy at special discounts…
and trump mattresses to float to safety on…
Pruitt was on top of that, wasn’t he?
Cat 4 now
s Tweets, current page. Tweets & replies Media
National Hurricane Center
‏Verified account @NHC_Atlantic
4m4 minutes ago
NEW: Florence is now a category 4 hurricane. Data from a NOAA Hurricane Hunter indicate that Florence has continued to rapidly strengthen and has maximum sustained winds near 130 mph (195 km/h) and a minimum central pressure of 946 mb (27.93 inches) http://hurricanes.gov
Like Floyd. Always the ones that begin with “F.” Floyd. Fran. Now Florence, being steered into an unprecedented landfall (never been one that started where this one did that made it to the coast) by a high pressure system that just happened to form over Bermuda.
I predict a major disaster on the coast and major ridiculous panic in the western part of the state where people will shop like their town is on the Outer Banks.
“A warm ocean is the fuel that powers hurricanes, and Florence will be moving over waters where temperatures are peaking near 85 degrees (30 Celsius)”. Yikes, ff the water is that warm, this is hardly going to be the last major hurricane of the season. 30 Celcius and above is like jet fuel for hurricanes.
And the shear is very moderate until it gets near the coast and by then it is too late…
Could hit Cat 5 if it passes over one of the Gulf Stream eddies…
To NCSteve, I’m in WV, and have vivid memories of devastating flooding in 1985 with the same basic setup - extremely heavy tropical rain on already saturated soils. This won’t just be a coastal event.
It remains fundamentally a little scary to me just how vulnerable our political system is to, well, weather. Hurricane season has usually petered out by November, but we definitely could see something like this hit the Carolinas, or to Florida, or to Texas on the first Tuesday. And there’s no legal remedy at all. By design, that’s just when the election is, and whatever happens happens. Did this disproportionately affect, say, a very blue city in a purple state and swing the election? Oh well, they didn’t vote.
I’m not proposing a remedy – there are strong (or powerful!) arguments that our system of government can never tolerate the suggestion of postponing or deferring an election. But in this sense, it sucks.
The White House is monitoring the situation and preparing potential responses for all contingencies, ranging from all-out disaster mobilization should Florence strike a red state, to hopes, prayers, and a brief tweet for blue-staters.
T rumpp has put in his order for paper towels.
I like to think the hurricane is named after Florence Welch of Florence + the Machine.
Scary.
Welcome to the brave new world of global warming…
The storms that form will tend to be beasts…
Exceptions will be waived for red states with hillbillies that talk funny.
Will be?? I think a most of them have been beasts by default since at least Katrina, maybe Andrew.
Ocean does get noticeably warm. Plenty to add extra octane to a storm. I wouldn’t be surprised if it got to Cat 5 at this rate.
The latest modeling shows a real chance of it turning and riding north along the coast. If that solidifies, everyone needs to get ready. NYC even.
One of the proofs of global warming is this map. The oceans have warmed substantially all over the world. Seriously.
Thanks, that makes way more sense. If the water was that warm, things would constantly look like the storm scene in Mad Max: Fury Road!