posted on Oct, 6 2024 @ 02:20 PM
originally posted by: ScarletDarkness
Helene just became more powerful the more inland she went, that doesn't happen, or it shouldn't . Also , especially around mountain areas, hurricanes
should lose power.
......
It's not true that Helene gained power as it went inland.
On Tuesday, Sept. 24, Helene was over the Caribbean Sea near Cuba and classified as a tropical storm (wind speeds 39 to 73 mph).
By Wednesday, Sept. 25, Helene had turned north, heading for Florida's Big Bend region and was upgraded to a Cat 1 Hurricane (wind speeds 74 to 95
mph).
By Thursday, Sept. 26, Helene had been upgraded to Cat 4 Hurricane (wind speeds 131 to 155 mph) as it made landfall late that evening.
By Friday, Sept. 27, it had been downgraded back to a tropical storm.
www.theguardian.com...
It started to become less powerful as soon as it made landfall and stopped picking up heat and water vapor from the sea surface--exactly as hurricanes
are supposed to do.
However, because the Caribbean Sea surface temperature was high, it had picked up a lot of water vapor. We know that because Helene was the largest
diameter US hurricane at landfall since Hurricane Sandy, in 2012.
www.usatoday.com...
As it moved northward and encountered the higher elevations of the Appalachian Mountains, orographic lifting caused the cloud bands surrounding the
eye to gain altitude, cool off, and dump all their moisture in a very constrained location--exactly as clouds are supposed to do.
The damage in Asheville (elevation 2,134 ft) and surrounding areas was mostly from flooding, not winds.