Rw, How 'bout A "goodnight Irene" For Us East Coasters?

[preach4bass]

I wish you could work your magic and lock this hurricane down!

[Long Mike]

Preach4bass, I'm afraid our ability to lock things down does not extend beyond these forums. Good luck to you and all of your fellow East Coasters. Keep your heads down.

[endless]

Ironically funny that the hurricane name fits in with Bassresource.

[Fishing Rhino]

Not to worry. The forecasts are greatly exaggerated. I doubt we'll see gusts that reach hurricane force by the time it reaches New England and New York.

I told my wife this two days ago, and she asked me what I based it on. Gut instinct and decades of watching these things come and go. But mostly it's the hype of the weather guys who make a living of blowing things out of proportion.

Remember when the tsunami was going to hit Hawaiia? Folks evacuated the coastline and all the networks had extensive, on the scene coverage. The tidal flats were supposed to go dry as the water preceding the tidal wave flowed to the sea. Then the ocean was to crash spectacularly onto the shore. All that resulted was a ripple. It was a joke.

[preach4bass]

Not to worry. The forecasts are greatly exaggerated. I doubt we'll see gusts that reach hurricane force by the time it reaches New England and New York.

That's great.....except I live in North Carolina!

[endless]

That's great.....except I live in North Carolina!

I'm not expecting much neither. I'm Va. It does have my wife freaking and the in-laws in MD worried. Just be safe and wish for the best for you and any that is in harm's way! I heard they have Delaware evacuating? My wife brother lives there so I hope he will alright as well!

[Fishing Rhino]

OOOPS! Just saw this tidbit about Irene.

"The storm cannot master its own strength."

Dr. Simon Atkins CEO, Advanced Forecasting Corporation [AFC]

Dr. Simon Atkins

CEO, Advanced Forecasting Corporation [AFC]

August 26, 2011

The hype over Hurricane Irene is overblown, predicts the CEO of Advanced Forecasting Corporation.

"North of Delaware, most hurricane force winds will very likely be gusts, not sustained winds."

o The demise of Irene has already begun. There is no visible eye. The storm intensity is down to 99 mph. This would be a low-end category 2 or a strong category 1 storm, while 36 hours ago some predicted a catastrophic category 4 storm. Air Force Reserve aircraft have found that Irene's eyewall has collapsed, and the central pressure has risen -- rising pressure means a weakening storm.

o The reduction in storm intensity likely confirms that this storm is not going to be as monstrous as it has been publicly forecast to be.

o Yes, it will be windy. However, north of Delaware most hurricane force winds will very likely be gusts, not sustained winds

[detroit1]

Rhino-you are so right. In most cases, it does get overblown. Sometimes they get it right. Stay safe all who meet her path.

[Fishing Rhino]

There may be a method to their madness. Better to err on the high side. Evacuations are still in order for those along the coast, even if the storm is less intense than forecast.

Then again, "crying wolf" fosters a tendency to disregard dire warnings.

[Long Mike]

Not to worry.

Not to worry my arse! There are tens of thousands of folks along the Carolina and adjoining coasts who will suffer catastrophic damage. It's all well and good for one to sit up in far north New England and make pontifications, but don't forget about the unfortunate folks who are going to be taking the brunt of the storm. Been there, done that, several tmes.. Never want to do it again.

I wish only the very best for you folks who are about to take a big hit. I hope you all have generators, because you will need them..

[Maxximus Redneckus]

Not to worry. The forecasts are greatly exaggerated. I doubt we'll see gusts that reach hurricane force by the time it reaches New England and New York.

I told my wife this two days ago, and she asked me what I based it on. Gut instinct and decades of watching these things come and go. But mostly it's the hype of the weather guys who make a living of blowing things out of proportion.

Remember when the tsunami was going to hit Hawaiia? Folks evacuated the coastline and all the networks had extensive, on the scene coverage. The tidal flats were supposed to go dry as the water preceding the tidal wave flowed to the sea. Then the ocean was to crash spectacularly onto the shore. All that resulted was a ripple. It was a joke.

i think the weather forecasters get kick backs somehow someway some one makes a lotta money off this stuff ...gas stations in a small town near here had no gas 3 of them had signs up

[Maxximus Redneckus]

Not to worry my arse! There are tens of thousands of folks along the Carolina and adjoining coasts who will suffer catastrophic damage. It's all well and good for one to sit up in far north New England and make pontifications, but don't forget about the unfortunate folks who are going to be taking the brunt of the storm. Been there, done that, several tmes.. Never want to do it again.

I wish only the very best for you folks who are about to take a big hit. I hope you all have generators, because you will need them..

Thanks for your concern im worried sh**less ..I have 2 small kids

[SirSnookalot]

The intensity of the hurricane will diminish some due the the water temperature dropping the further north you go. However I go with the professional advice, the safety of my family far outweighs any gut feeling I may have, being in Florida I have experienced hurricanes and they ain't fun. What is import is tide, damage is much more severe during high incoming tide as compared to low outgoing. Even a small hurricane in heavy populated areas like NYC are problematic, these people have a hard time getting out even if they wanted too, many don't have cars and as reported there is only a 1 day food supply there. I don't remember the numbers, but damage forecast in dollars range from a few hundred million in NC to as high as 5 billion in Mass., higher values in the north.

I would never let years of being lucky sway my opinion, it takes but 1 mistake in judgement to be sorry for the rest of your life.

[Fishing Rhino]

Not to worry my arse! There are tens of thousands of folks along the Carolina and adjoining coasts who will suffer catastrophic damage. It's all well and good for one to sit up in far north New England and make pontifications, but don't forget about the unfortunate folks who are going to be taking the brunt of the storm. Been there, done that, several tmes.. Never want to do it again.

I wish only the very best for you folks who are about to take a big hit. I hope you all have generators, because you will need them..

Far north New England? I live on the south coast of New England, and hurricanes do hit here. The famous hurricane of '38, Hurricanes Carol, Edna, Hazel and Bob all hit the bullseye of the area in which I live. My "pontification" had nothing to do with making preparations or evacuating coastal areas. It had to do exclusively with the forecast strength of the storm.

I did not tell anyone to ignore the warnings or to stay put if they are on the track of the storm.

The only time "worry" accomplishes anything is when it motivates someone to take action. Worried about the storm? Get your body out of its way.

Try commercial fishing or farming. You learn to accept, and deal with what Mother Nature tosses in your face.

[Fishing Rhino]

The hurricane warning that southern New England had been under has been downgraded to a tropical storm warning.

[VolFan]

Prep for the worst and hope for the best. We can go for 4-5 days without power or water at this point. But I'd rather not. It's not expensive, just do it. Most of the prep stuff is non-perishable, so it'll keep until Snowzilla 2013. If it were just me, I might not be so gung ho about it, but with a wife and a baby, you don't have the option of laughing it off.

[GrundleLove]

When i heard about it i said "oh thats nice". Cuz everytime they give us new englanders a warning bout this they hype it up soooooo much. Ame thing happened a year a two ago. The whooe state was state of emergency and people were fleeing southers coast mass...and there were lieke 15 mph gusts. Thas it. Which will probably happen this time. And to prove it i will be sitting in a lawn chair drinking beers on m front lawn until mon morning and nothing will happen but a good buzz

[Lund Explorer]

While not too many hurricanes come blowing through West Michigan, we see our fair share of weather warnings. From blizzards to tornados, it seems like half the year is spent preparing for one disaster or another.

I know it's better than it was 100 years ago, but this current 24 hour a day weather/news cycle is starting to look to me like the worst of reality television programming. Just like the constant reminder that at any moment some truck is going through the ice on Ice Road Truckers, we get constant updates on the spot and on scene during every storm. If I want constant attention from the weather channel, I'd just as soon ask Stephanie Abrahms out on a date!

[Sam]

Grundle, may I suggest you go fishing today?

One of the best days to go fishing with the full moon and high tides and a little rain and wind.

Let us know how you do.

[SirSnookalot]

The hurricane may only be a storm once in reaches New England but that does not diminish the chance of power being down, fallen trees, debris flying around at 60 or 70 mph, tap water being unfit for use and flooding due to heavy rain and already saturated ground. In NYC the power will be shut down in some areas even though the wires are underground, flooding may be a problem, so if you live on the 20 th floor of a building, no elevator, not bad going down but walking back up is a *****.

From personal experience when Wilma hit Palm Beach County, power out for nearly a week, no traffic lights operating and debris all over the roadways. No cell phones for quite a few days and no land phone for about 3-4 weeks. No gas for our cars as most gas stations did not have generators to operate the pumps, atm's were out for a while too. Food to buy was scarce and no bottled water to be found.

Given all the information that's out there only a fool wouldn't be prepared. And if not prepared and some hardship does happen, don't whine about it, you had warning. If by chance one comes out unscathed, just consider yourself fortunate. We take them serious here in Florida and the gulf states.

[Steven Ladner]

VERY well said Sir Snook..

[Jigfishn10]

Maybe the folks who forecast these events get a little too excited, but I'd rather have more information than less. We tend to be near sighted and remember the blunders, but back in '91 when the Perfect Storm hit and '78 when we got a "little" snow, we didn't have near the media coverage, nor the warnings.

So give me all the 411 you can give, even if some of it is useless.

Grundle, after reading your post, it looks like you've been sitting on the lawn chair for a while now...

[Fishing Rhino]

RJ Heim, the weatherman on NBC 10 just said we are probably experiencing the strongest winds we'll have right now, 20 to 40 mph with some higher gusts in the 50mph range.

We did make preparations. All loose stuff in the yard was tucked away in the garage. Got the gas jugs filled and treated it with fuel stabilizer. Hooked up the generator and started it.

The most serious problem from the storm will be the surge along the ocean front, not so much from the wind.

[Fishing Rhino]

Maybe the folks who forecast these events get a little too excited, but I'd rather have more information than less. We tend to be near sighted and remember the blunders, but back in '91 when the Perfect Storm hit and '78 when we got a "little" snow, we didn't have near the media coverage, nor the warnings.

So give me all the 411 you can give, even if some of it is useless.

Grundle, after reading your post, it looks like you've been sitting on the lawn chair for a while now...

The problem with them hyping every hurricane, blizzard or whatever all out of proportion is that many, like me, get tired of them crying wolf. They obviously do not know the precise track and power of the storm in the future. It's the "cry wolf" syndrome. The constant drumbeat of "the sky is falling" turns folks off to their message.

Why can't they simply say the storm has the potential to do this or that, provide an overly broad area that the storm may impact, and tell folks to prepare for the worst. Have the mandatory evacuations, and whatever other, better safe than sorry, preparations are appropriate to the potential of any storm.

The weather channels tell folks to stay away from the beaches and waterfront so they don't get swept out into the sea and unecessarily put emergency responders at risk when they get into trouble. Why don't these folks heed their own dire warnings? The station themselves and their broadcasting crews on jetties, boardwalks or on the beach to report on the storm.

Right now, a broadcaster is criticizing those who are walking around sightseeing, yet he's in that very place where he says they should not be.

[Jigfishn10]

It's a double edged sword, Rhino. There are folks who won't take the warnings very seriously and they are the one's who are, usually, younger than you and I, who think that they are larger than life and don't have much to lose. There are folks who will drive on RTE 128 @ 30 miles an hour when we have flurries of snow and sun and hang on every warning that is heard on the radio or television. You also have folks who never experienced New England weather all together.

So what do you do?

Do you have the media peeps get excited about what's coming, what to do, how to prepare etc. and cover all walks of life mentioned above or be nonchalant about the storm? You and I have lived through these events, but there are a lot of peeps who haven't experienced enough of them or none of them at all. So the double edge sword is that we jump up and down for "the sky is falling" hype or "where the heck was the warning, you boneheads!".

I say, hype it up and cover all walks of life and if you don't think it's gonna be that bad....shut off the radio or television and don't listen to it.