Irene eye wall collapses. Diminished strength but still a heavy duty storm.

[GoneOffShore]

From Jeff Masters blog on Wunderground:

Satellite data and measurements from the Hurricane Hunters show that Irene is weakening. A 9:21 am EDT center fix by an Air Force Reserve aircraft found that Irene's eyewall had collapsed, and the central pressure had risen to 946 mb from a low of 942 mb this morning.

More at link:

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/show.html

We're not out of the woods, but it might not be quite as bad as some are saying.

And this is what climate change does.

[SusanaMontana41]

1. Evacuate nonetheless. nt

[GoneOffShore]

3. No evac orders here in Philly.

And I remember Hurricane Hazel - (the storm was so severe they retired the name) - from 1954. It was scary but we weren't on the coast. We lived in Wilmington, Delaware at the time.
The wikipedia article brought back some memories.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Hazel

[hedgehog]

2. The word is the wind speed might be down, but storm surge

and flooding from heavy rainfalls are still a concern.

[glowing]

4. Its not the wind with this storm.. only a cat 1 to 2.. Not bad at all.

But the storm surge is huge.. Which is pretty amazing... As well, the wind is 90miles out from the center, which means more wind for longer as the storm passes.. We had a hurricane move at 1mph over fl.. by the time it reached us on the West Coast from the East, it was a Tropical Storm.. But it sat for 24 hrs.. So wind from 30-70mph over 24 hrs is a lot for structures and power lines and tree branches to handle.

[TBF]

8. Yes, the storm surge is the issue. Ike was cat 2 (120 mph)

and was able to destroy Bolivar Peninsula with the surge. Parts of Houston (20-50 miles inland) lost power anywhere from a week to several weeks. Lots of roof damage, privacy fences & gates down in surrounding areas. It's still a serious storm.

I was thrilled to hear it had weakened though.

[GoneOffShore]

5. Saw that in the blog post.

I'm going to continue to follow his blog. At least until the power goes out.

[Major Hogwash]

6. Well, I'll be gawd damned. Pat Robertson will take credit for it this time, too!

"We prayed it to turn away and our prayers were answered, just like that."

I can still see Al Franken impersonating him on Saturday Night Live.

:rofl:

[ChandlerJr]

7. Followed the link but couldn't find the discussion on how climate change

was responsible for the eye wall collapse. Please quote that, I need to send it to my fundy denier BIL. He keeps saying that Hurricanes have existed forever and have nothing to do with the obvious change taking place.

[applegrove]

9. That is great news.