Is Irene going to hit you?

Just curious to know what data you are using to support the statement that it's going to hit Florida "big time" ??

Right you are. Latest reports predict landfall in Wilmington N.C. and the way the predicted track keeps sliding it looks like it may just go out to sea (we hope). Could be a hard hurricane season though. Good luck to all.

Current predictions put it completely off the coast with landfall (at worst) north of Willmington mid-day Saturday as a Cat 3. Most of the forecast models have it staying off land though.

As of right now the system looks like it will miss Florida completely.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at4+shtml/145015.shtml?gm_track#contents

I wouldn't want to be a tourist in the Bahamas right now.

DK about Irene, but I just felt my 1st earthquake. A bit unusual for Long Island. Thought one of my animals was messing with me as my chair began to tremble.

Yeah, we felt it here around Philly as well,
I thought my giant cat was humping my desk !!!!

Early pics of the earthquake damage in DC: LINK

Since I was seated it felt more like a BM.

A.K.A. the "Home Depot Cone", a phenomenon that is inexplicably attracted to large stockpiles of plywood and generators.

Not necessarily so. Many of Katrina's victims were left to die. As for predicting the path, when I think back to Andrew, many who fled the storms path ended up moving straight into it when it shifted south during the last hours before landfall. For several hours most thought it blew apart because Ft. Lauderdale & Miami weren't touched. Then the reports started filtering in from Homestead. Hurricanes are fickle creatures.

We here in Miami were very much "touched"--from torn-off roofs in Sunny Isles to a massive uprooting of century-old trees in Coral Gables and points in between...oh, we got touched, alright.

Yet the stream of boats being towed in from the south to F.L. seemed never ending.
Sunny Isles, heck I spent something like 7 hours digging a channel under my boat through fire ants on the New River before the next high tide, but we were expecting devastation. That left turn may have only been 20 miles, but it made a big difference.

Why is it that so often when someone responds to a post they disagree with, they almost automatically raise the issue that the poster is obviously consumming illegal substances...?! Me, I stick with Scotch. On the rocks. Cheers Amigo.

So far as weather forecasters are concerned, I'm always reminded of a certain UK weatherman, who presented the weather forecast for a major UK TV channel. I believe his name was Michael Fish. What hit the UK probably wasn't a hurricane in terms usually associated with such events elsewhere. Yet caused great havoc back in 1987 in UK I believe.

BTW, I managed to have a short chat with Irene just now. She said that she was just over the Bahamas and was over-joyed, having destroyed the 300A 3 phase power supply recently installed for M/Y PESTIFER. I said that the owners could afford it (replacing the shore power supply). She merely shrugged a shoulder. I said that everyone expects that she will remain offshore the eastern seabord of the USA as she eventually succombs to "planetary love". I'm not sure that Irene was convinced. Women can be so fickle sometimes. At present speed and 2 days away, she could easily decide to alter course by 20° left-rudder and pay a visit to Disneyland.

Hey?! Would you prefer a hurricane called Rambo instead...?

PS. We could do with some rain here on the Cote d'Azur. So Irene, if you decide not to spank all the yachtforum members living in the SE USA, please do traverse the Atlantic and eventually make the grass greener here again.

Gee, I don't know, but this might hold a clue:

(Just kidding with ya. Hey, some legal stuff will get you there as well.)

Well, I was responding to the post in disagreement as well, and was simply asking how you came to the conclusion that Florida was going to get smashed. Because I pore over about 10 different websites full of weather info several times daily when a storm is threatening, and had no idea how you came up with that statement.

Latest computer models all have her heading out to sea with possibly a brush of the coast and possible landfall around eastern L.I. or eastern New England. Looks like this one is just a warning shot across the bow (unless you're in the Bahamas). Welcome to hurricane season.