2020 Atlantic Hurricane Season Running Thread

We drove from New England to Texas when we made our big move - had to because of the dog - and we went through Louisiana to get to Houston, that specific area probably. It was a crazy drive for a guy from Rhode Island, because its literally like a couple of hours driving on bridges that are suspended over the swamp.

 

It was almost better in the old days. Things were kinda vague, and you could just hunker down and ride it out. Now you can watch the storm radar live on the phone in your pocket. That can be kinda disconcerting.

 

It wasn't Hurricane Season until the newspaper printed the full page map with the coordinates, and you'd listen or watch for the latest LAT/LONG to add to your personal handy, dandy chart taped to the icebox or a slow-moving turtle .. and then spend the next few hours debating among your family where you thought it was heading next.

Ya kids, ya! And your new-fangled weather satellites and the Interwebs have stolen all the fun away!

Onions on my belt. (Take a nap, old fart.)

 

A flaccid effort.

 

Think about people in Galveston in 1900, those in the Keys for the Labor Day Hurricane in 1935, and the folks in North Carolina for Hazel in 1954. If you knew anything at all before the sea started getting rough, you were lucky.

 

99 Percent Invisible (podcast) had a good episode on the development of weather forecasting, with the author of "The Weather Machine," a book about the history of it. Its in my queue to read, but haven't gotten to it yet.

 

Holy hell! Laura has completely bombed out in the last few hours. Up to 140 mph and pressure down to 952 mb. A Category 4 with room to grow.

 

That first outer band is wrapping all the way around and hitting the west side of Houston.

 

Monster

 

Bizarre to read, because its sunny and 90 degrees where I'm at... but then again, about an hour ago, it poured for five minutes. Bizarro Weather times incoming.

 

Prediction is now 150 mph at landfall. I have a friend who lives just south of 10, between Lake Charles and Lafayette. They aren’t evacuating. She sounds calm and very well prepared. They also have a boat ready and neighbors have a large, high dump truck if they do have to leave the house.

 

Your friend is making a very large bet at unfavorable odds. The best possible outcome is if they avoid injury or death. This can be made a 100 percent certainty if they fire up their own car and head north.