Northeren Hurricane Watch 2011

Hi anyone still out there.
We've had a bit of a lull during the last hour. We were in a drier area. The sky is starting to darken again and the wind just now is begining to pick up. Just had the lights flash but this house is 100 years old and sometimes they just do that. Right now the storm is still south west of me. Moving NNE which is aiming right for this area of the Chesapeake Bay. I do not think there will be any more forays outside today. I will watch and see.
I have cooked up a big batch of pasta and a big batch of rice, I have a giant skillet of sauted' onions, peppers, carrots and celery, to be added to other foods if I have to cook outdoors later this week. I have frozen meat that will also work to keep the refrigerator cold as long as the door is kept closed. I have two gallon bottles of water frozen that will also keep the frige cold. I am on a major road so I don't think I will be without power for too long.
Its quiet again just now. Oops there it started again. The winds have really died down from the 1-2 oclock hour. Maybe its going away. I wish. I think I am in another dry spot. The radar is showing more reds and yellows again. Moving in this direction. She slowed down her forward motion just a tad. Pressure still low. I can feel that in my sinuses.

Originally posted by robyn
Hi Karen -- Hang in there! This too shall pass.

WAVY News is reporting the center is now 95 miles south of Norfolk. www.wavy.com...

Looks like you may soon be in a dry slot. www.wavy.com...

-Robyn

Thanks Robyn , yes from about 3- to right now its been quieter and calmer. The winds are just now picking up again so I think some heavier rain is headed for us now. I will be back next hour. The flashing light was my hubby reconnecting the power to the garage an outbuilding. A small branch loosened the wire. Now as long as we stay on I will be able to see some of what the storm is doing as it gets dark. It is already starting to look like night. This morning night held on. I was watching Stephanie and Al on Long Island and they were in daylight while it was still night dark outside my living room window. Gosh that seems like so long ago. Not part of today. Its been a long day and will be an even longer night I think.

Originally posted by karen61057
Hi anyone still out there.
We've had a bit of a lull during the last hour. We were in a drier area. The sky is starting to darken again and the wind just now is begining to pick up. Just had the lights flash but this house is 100 years old and sometimes they just do that. Right now the storm is still south west of me. Moving NNE which is aiming right for this area of the Chesapeake Bay. I do not think there will be any more forays outside today. I will watch and see.
I have cooked up a big batch of pasta and a big batch of rice, I have a giant skillet of sauted' onions, peppers, carrots and celery, to be added to other foods if I have to cook outdoors later this week. I have frozen meat that will also work to keep the refrigerator cold as long as the door is kept closed. I have two gallon bottles of water frozen that will also keep the frige cold. I am on a major road so I don't think I will be without power for too long.
Its quiet again just now. Oops there it started again. The winds have really died down from the 1-2 oclock hour. Maybe its going away. I wish. I think I am in another dry spot. The radar is showing more reds and yellows again. Moving in this direction. She slowed down her forward motion just a tad. Pressure still low. I can feel that in my sinuses.

Glad you are doing ok!
And,you are making me hungry,yum.
Has the eye passed by your way yet?

Getting the outer bands of rain now here in Boston. This is going to feel like a long 26 hours or so. I can only keep hoping it loses strength quick. It's not expected to be too bad here in Boston, I'm concerned for where it is now and NYC.

Looks to me that it's weakening because it's on land right now... but once it goes back on water, it'll strenghten a bit...

Then it will hit NYC.

reply to post by karen61057

You are welcome Karen. Winds should be picking up shortly. Get that hubby of yours iinside! Some poor gentleman was killed in NC when he went outside during a lull in the storm and was nailed by a tree branch.

Irene is remarkable by the depth of her pressure (950mb's right now). She has the potential to deepen when the core is back out over water. The sea surface temps are still warm enough for that.

Kudos to you for your preparations. Hope to hear from you when the storm is passed.

-Robyn

Not fear mongering, just find it a bit odd...

There was just an "introductions" post that proclaimed that there would severe flooding throughout the US Monday afternoon.

Now anyone remember a while back there was a conspiracy post, warning of something, i dont even remember what, but it literally disappeared from the forum. Same here. Not deleted, not moved, literally gone. I even replied to it and its not in "MyATS"

I figure that the thread was deleted and the member banned, that is the only way I can think that a thread can just disappear...

Just figure i spread the word. It doesnt sound credible but none the less, better be warned than not prepared at all, but yea - the person was warning to be prepared for severe floods throughout the US as dams and other water ways will severely over flood.

reply to post by kdog1982


No but it is now south east of me. Does the happy dance. I think that around midnight I can expect the worst of this storm. It is looking like about 60 mps sustained which should be hairy. Right now we are in a peculiar pattern of almost dead calm, then little rushes of wind, then a big gust, there is no rain right now. I looked and there is a big dry patch moving over our area right now with just small bands of rain and wind. This lull should last about another hour or more. I think once the center moves due east of me around midnight that soon after that I will once again be in a quiet spot.
Will stay posting.
Tonight, Chorizo and beans over rice. Yummmmm!
At our house we are always grateful for good food. Because of that, we always seem to have it. Thank You....
Peace and Love
Karen

Well it's already raining in NY...
Live stream

Shall be an interesting cam to watch.

For some real time updates on damages and conditions,go to this site.

www.weather.com...

Latest...

SUMMARY OF 500 PM EDT...2100 UTC...INFORMATION
----------------------------------------------
LOCATION...36.2N 76.0W
ABOUT 50 MI...80 KM SSE OF NORFOLK VIRGINIA
ABOUT 340 MI...545 KM SSW OF NEW YORK CITY
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...80 MPH...130 KM/H
PRESENT MOVEMENT...NNE OR 15 DEGREES AT 13 MPH...20 KM/H
MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE...950 MB...28.05 INCHES

Getting weaker... hope it doesn't get strength when it's back over water.

340 MI from NYC... Will take about 24 hres from now before it's there.

Landfall in NYC... around 5PM EST Sunday.

So info on the dangers posed to highrise building.
The winds are 20 to 30% higher in those buildings the higher you go then at ground level

.

Jonathan Erdman (Meteorologist): NHC in 5p disc'n addresses high-rise wind threat: - Winds at 30-story level will likely be 20% higher than at surface. - Winds 80-100 stories up could be about 30% higher than at surface! Major danger of broken glass, not just from wind, but what's caught up in the wind!

Local weather guys here in NY are still divided on their storm projections.

Less fear mongering Mr. G (older guy) saying that the wall is weakening and there is dry banding on the eastern side, which is good news for points east of where the eye hits. He predicts the worst to hit between 12 am and 12 pm Sunday with 5 to 9 inches of rain and 3-6 ft. storm surge. He also just said he thinks it will probably be a tropical storm by the time it hits.

Fear mongering news guys (younger) said nothing about the wall collapse, but predicts "copious" rainfall of more than 10 inches and storm surge of 5-8 feet. His timeframe is also a bit later.

Who do I believe - I think I'll go with Mr. G. - he has been doing this a long time right?

Current conditions - been raining lightly to moderately on and off for the past two hours. No wind yet. Flooding is definitely a concern because over the last two weeks alone we have broken the record for August rainfall. People are still pumping out their basements.

reply to post by karen61057

Thanks so much for your updates. You have helped calm me down seeing as I am in line for Irene after you and you got through it. Also seems it will be a bit weaker when it hits here.

Latest.

SUMMARY OF 700 PM EDT...2300 UTC...INFORMATION
----------------------------------------------
LOCATION...36.5N 75.8W
ABOUT 35 MI...55 KM SE OF NORFOLK VIRGINIA
ABOUT 315 MI...510 KM SSW OF NEW YORK CITY
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...80 MPH...130 KM/H
PRESENT MOVEMENT...NNE OR 20 DEGREES AT 16 MPH...26 KM/H
MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE...950 MB...28.05 INCHES

Going back east!

I've got family up in that area (Richmond, VA & NYC) all are in safe places either home (wife's brother and 2 of his 4 children, younger son is staying with a friend in western New Jersey from NYC where they both are part of a broadway cast, older son at Elon)

Karen, thank you very much for keeping us in tune with what's happening in your area! It sounds like you're prepared and wise, a good combination. Keep yourselves safe and us updated as long as you are able.

Kali, Maluhia, stay safe when it heads your way.

Vitch and kdog, thanks for the links and information.

Anyone else in the affected areas, be aware of your surroundings. Especially after it has passed.

Let me tell you what just happened. Then I will get to the weather and conditions I am experiencing.
I went outside on the porch to see what the energy of the storm was feeling like. It has been pretty constant squally weather, with periods of slack. It is raining pretty steady right now. I am standing there and I hear someone scream. Help me!!!! But its so muffled by the wind and rain I can not be sure I am hearing screaming or a kid playing. My first instinct was that it was a kid playing around. I thought who is letting a child run around in this mess. The worst of the storm is just about to approach us. Anyway. A few minutes go by and I think I hear a squeal again. Like someone desperate. A car approaches the intersection where I am hearing this sound and then continues on. I went inside and told my husband that I think I am hearing someone screaming. I hear it every time a car approaches the intersection like perhaps there are people trying to flag someone down at the light. I went inside and got my husbands baseball cap and my matrix style leather coat and I creep past the waterfall at the end of the porch roof but the cap keeps my vision clear so I go to the street. The sidewalk is a little riverlet, the grass growing next to the street offers a little higher ground. I jump over the sidewalk and try to see down the street. I do not see anyone.
The man on the corner, Joe, has a heart condition and it comes to mind that someone in his family could be flagging for help. I do not hear anything as I am perched on the island that is the grass between the street and sidewalk. I jump back over the riverlet and go back up on the porch. A bit later I am sure that I hear someone yelling and that person sounds distressed. Soooo, I make the trip back to the island and decide that I should walk a way down to where I can get a clearer view of the intersection. A car was approachig and that had been the catalist before. As soon as the car got to the light a bunch of kids came running out of a house on the corner onto their porch screaming. One had a particularly audible voice. So I went home and came on here to let you all know. And...
The lifeblood still flows through the veins of Dominion Virginia Power.

Sadly six are reported dead between North Carolina and Virginia. Two of them children. One child died when the second floor of his home collapsed on to the first floor as a result of a falling tree. Mother and a sibling begged for someone to rescue her child but he had already perished when they pulled him from the wreckage. Another child died in a car crash involving an intersection where the traffic light was not working.
The winds are still from the east north east although the storm has pulled to the east it is still a bit south. The center may pass within 30 miles of my house during the next few hours. By 10 we should feel the worst as the center pulls parallel to where we are. They are still showing concern for the lower Chesapeake Bay and that is where I am. Right at the mouth of the bay.
Anyway I am getting weary. I had to clean all those pots and pans I used this afternoon precooking staples. Then dinner( with lights on) and clean up again. It was busy work as I watched the squalls that sprang up and diminished from the window above the sink. Nothing more than a mild tropical storm for several hours. Now it is getting rainier and windier and I want to settle in and watch a movie since the power is still going.
I will check in if anything interesting happens. Otherwise I will check in later around midnight if I still can.
I am amazed every hour that I continue to have power. There are over a million already between Va and NC that have lost power.
Later
Peace and Love,
Karen

Roanoak

reply to post by Maluhia


Yes, it spent a good part of the day over land and is just now exiting the NC coast headed east north east. It is moving away and hopefully will maintain this direction. I have not seen the worst yet but should be getting that pretty soon. After that I expect a prolonged period of squally weather much like its been throughout the day. It seems like forever and it seems like its been just dawn or just sunset all day. It never really got to be daytime. The clouds would sometime lighten just enough to let me know that above them it was still day time and it was only dusk all day for us below them. Any way good luck to you. I cannot say what this storm will bring for you or what conditions you might experience. I hope you are ok and can stay calm. Try busy work like I did to occupy your mind.

Latest :

SUMMARY OF 900 PM EDT...0100 UTC...INFORMATION
----------------------------------------------
LOCATION...36.9N 75.6W
ABOUT 100 MI...160 KM SSW OF OCEAN CITY MARYLAND
ABOUT 285 MI...460 KM SSW OF NEW YORK CITY
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...80 MPH...130 KM/H
PRESENT MOVEMENT...NNE OR 20 DEGREES AT 16 MPH...26 KM/H
MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE...951 MB...28.08 INCHES

STORM SURGE...AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS STORM TIDE WILL RAISE WATER
LEVELS BY AS MUCH AS 5 TO 9 FEET ABOVE GROUND LEVEL

RAINFALL...IRENE IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE RAINFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF
6 TO 12 INCHES...WITH ISOLATED MAXIMUM AMOUNTS OF 20 INCHES

TORNADOES...ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE ALONG THE COAST OF
MARYLAND...DELAWARE...AND NEW JERSEY THROUGH TONIGHT.