My Take On What I Learned From The Hurricane Dorian Experience.
“I told the truth about the Miami life. It’s a nice place to visit, but you don’t want to live here. I lived through two major riots and three Category 5 hurricanes, I don’t know if a lot of people could say that”. Trick Daddy I don’t know who ‘Trick Daddy’ is and nor do I care. His statement is correct – not many people can say what he said about Miami but the kids of southwest Miami I grew up with all can support his comments. Regarding living in Miami, he is wrong. Miami is a great area to live – way different than most cities in North America.
This past week, most of Florida was alarmed at the size and strength of Hurricane Dorian as it approached and then subsequently stalled over the Bahamas. To monitor the storm’s path all of us painfully watched The Weather Channel and their 24/7 live reporting from the Bahamas and different beaches along Florida’s east coast. Even Jim Cantore, The Weather Channel’s infamous anchor and field reporter, put in numerous hours working with his camera crew on providing live dramatic shots. Speaking of drama, we all remember this weather reporter’s ‘fake’ weather broadcast barely being able to stand the high winds (while two guys easily walk behind him):
Regarding The Weather Channel, here are some of the weather terms I picked up over the last few days trying to determine when and for how long I needed to close my office early last week:
EYE: The center core of a hurricane. Or, one of two orifices located on either side of your nose.
GALE WARNING: A warning of 1-minute sustained winds in the range of 34-47 knots (39-54 mph). Or, the arrival of Bill Gale, a good friend of many – a day before he shows up in Atlanta!
HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEM: Is sometimes called an anticyclone, is an area where the atmospheric pressure is greater than that of the surrounding area. Or, the opposite of a low pressure system – and there is nothing about low pressure that can be good for any scenario.
HIGH WIND WARNING: A high wind warning is defined as 1-minute average surface winds of 35 knots or greater (40 mph or greater) lasting for 1 hour or longer. Or, the ill effect an hour after leaving Tijuana Joe’s in Marietta, Georgia.
HURRICANE SEASON: The portion of the year having a relatively high incidence of hurricanes. Or, the cheapest time to take a Carnival Cruise with thousands of your favorite friends who think Las Vegas Boulevard is Rodeo Drive.
HURRICANE WATCH: Issued when hurricane conditions are possible or expected in a given area with the next 36 hours. Or, the total freak out time for most of Florida’s favorite folks fighting over bread and bottled water.
STORM SURGE: An abnormal rise in sea level accompanying a hurricane or other intense storm, and whose height is the difference between the observed level of the sea surface and the level that would have occurred in the absence of the cyclone. Storm surge is usually estimated by subtracting the normal or astronomic high tide from the observed storm tide. Yes, Weather Channel, we all use our calculators to do the subtraction from the astronomic high tide. Seriously?
SUBTROPICAL DEPRESSION: A subtropical cyclone in which the maximum sustained surface wind speed is 33 knots or less. Or, the feeling you get when The Weather Channel goes to commercial break every six minutes. Yes, every six minutes.
TROPICAL DEPRESSION: Obviously the exact opposite of a Subtropical Depression. My friend Samir can explain.
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The loss of life and damage from a hurricane is no laughing matter. The people of the Bahamas and out islands incurred devastating damage to their property – damage that may take a very long time and a lot of money to repair. Please consider contributing to the Bahamas Red Cross:
https://bahamasredcross.org/volunteer/signup/
Thoughts and prayers to all that are affected by Hurricane Dorian. Adios, and pay it forward.