Irene To Be Remembered for Years To Come

If this storm pans out the  way I believe it will and what the modeling is now suggesting in a very consistent manner, this storm will be one for the ages.  I've always heard people refer to Hazel (1954), Camille (1969), and certainly remember Hugo (1989), and Andrew (1992), and most recently Katrina (2005), and Irene will earn her name into these annals as an equal with these infamous storms.  I will post just 4 maps so as to not overload the reader.  The first 2 are the wind fields as suggested by 2 outstanding hurricane models; the GFDL (Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory) and the HWRF (Hurricane Weather Research Forecasting).  You can essentially ascertain the progged track from the winds fields shown in the 2 models below.  First, the GFDL model....a bit closer to the coast and at times onshore.

And now the HWRF.  Note the larger wind field, but strongest winds remain closest to the core.  There is a strong gradient as to the diminishing of the winds the further one ventures from the center of the storm.  The GFDL actually has hurricane force winds reaching into our immediate vicinity of south central PA!

Now onto the closeup of the storm.  First the GFDL's depiction.  These are the winds at about 2,000' and the lower left is the sea surface temps in Celsius.  Keep in mind, the wind speeds that are indicated are in knots.  To convert, 1 knot = 1.15 mph or 100 knots is 115 mph.

Here is the HWRF progged position for Sunday morning.  The way to read the map below is we are looking at 100 knot ONSHORE winds say at LBI, NJ and 100 knot winds OFFSHORE at say Wildwood, NJ.  If this would verify, this will be a multi-billion dollar insurance nightmare!  And we haven't even gotten to New England yet!

Onto a lighter note, with the start of school and back to the semi-real world for me, these blogs do take some time so they will be fewer and farther in between.  Now I'm not so vain as to think that everyone wants to know what Smitty thinks about this wx situation or that wx situation, but I am humbled and honored that some of you do like to read my opinions.  So, for what it is worth, I will from time to time, post my very brief thoughts on Twitter if any would like to follow.  This is coming from a guy who would "NEVER, I WILL NEVER OWN A CELL PHONE!!"  Well, I've seen the advantage of the use of technology and Twitter is also pretty neat if you are an info junkie like me to some extent.  The more data the better!  That's my mantra.  So if you Twitter, and please excuse me, but I'm just learning that technology, you can find me at SmittysSynopsis if you even care.  And while you look for me on Twitter, look for this as well:  CDAthletics.  The CD AD Mr. J. Confer keeps those who want to be informed about all things sports at CDHS and I have found it very useful and informative.  Here are some of the tweets from the last week for CD Athletics:

So get a Twitter account and follow CD Athletics and if the mood strikes, my random thoughts about not only the wx, but data that is pertinent to me and my "no-life"!  Like, maybe I'll share that today marks the day 22 years ago in 1989  the greatest all-time hits leader in baseball was banned from baseball for life!  I always liked how Pete Rose played the game!  I just did!  Even when he was a member of the hated Big Red Machine!  But Pete Rose is now banned from MLB for life as a result of his agreement with then commissioner Bart Giamatti.  Hard to believe that was 22 years ago today!

Now off to watch the Phillies sweep those AAA Mets!  Enjoy what remains of your Wednesday and see many of you tomorrow!

Smitty

AA:  One wicked storm (major Hurricane Irene) for this upcoming weekend along the east coast of the USA.  Get a Twitter account and follow CD Athletics and me if you want since Tweets are limited to 140 characters and I must be short and succinct when using that.  It was 22 years ago Pete Rose was banned from baseball!