Storms Marco & Laura Heading for the Gulf States

[Lewis Clark]

In mid-to-late August 1992, Hurricane Andrew was the "A" storm that year - the first named storm.

In late August 2020, we have Laura and Marco as the 12th and 13th named storms so far this year. I spoke to a friend at the National Weather Service few day ago. He won't be surprised if we get enough storms to exhaust the list of names and force us to move into the Greek alphabet. I think that's happened only once before.

Hoping all in the path can stay as safe as possible.

 

[audreyh1]

Wow still category 2 and big.

 

[JoeWras]

Later today, we will be seeing incredible damage.

There will be significant damage even well inland. I think even Memphis will see tree damage.

 

[RunningBum]

Well, my 83 year old dad lives in Port Arthur, Tx and won't leave his house. We all tried to get him to go. My sister and niece have all left town. Winds supposed to come in at 150 miles per hour and gusts of 185. I just sent him what might be the last text I ever get to send him. He is so stubborn. What can one do but pray. He lives in a ranch style house and can't climb into the attic. I am pretty mad at him at this point, but hopeful.

Listening now to the Port Arthur mayor on NPR, he says they were mostly spared from the hurricane. Mostly limbs down, not so many whole trees. I'm not hearing how high the water got but since he's not mentioning it I assume there's not much. Or I missed that but they didn't dwell on it.

 

[RAE]

Well, my 83 year old dad lives in Port Arthur, Tx and won't leave his house. We all tried to get him to go. My sister and niece have all left town. Winds supposed to come in at 150 miles per hour and gusts of 185. I just sent him what might be the last text I ever get to send him. He is so stubborn. What can one do but pray. He lives in a ranch style house and can't climb into the attic. I am pretty mad at him at this point, but hopeful.

Any word from your dad yet? Sounds like most of the storm surge was east of Port Arthur, so hopefully he is ok?

 

[Montecfo]

Storm surge seems to have not reached predicted levels, a good thing.

 

[JoeWras]

The biggest news right now seems to be a chemical fire in Lake Charles. It is complicating things because an exclusion zone is required. Lake Charles also has a weather radar. What used to be a dome covering a radar, is now just an erector set with twisted debris on top.

 

[RAE]

Since the 1990's, the frequency of very powerful hurricanes (Cat 4 or 5) has roughly doubled in the Atlantic. Something is allowing these storms to get stronger in recent years. Climate change is suspected to be a contributor.

 

[Montecfo]

Fortunately, Cat 4 and 5 hurricanes making landfall in the US mainland are uncommon. I think there have been only 10 such storms since 1960, (but 3 in past 4 years), with long stretches with no such storms.

 

[RAE]

Fortunately, Cat 4 and 5 hurricanes making landfall in the US mainland are uncommon. I think there have been only 10 such storms since 1960, (but 3 in past 4 years), with long stretches with no such storms.

Yes, but 3 in the last 4 years is not a good trend. Also, Hurricane Dorian last year was a Cat. 5 that barely avoided Florida, after devastating two islands in the N. Bahamas. As Audrey mentioned, some of these tropical storms in recent years seem to intensify very rapidly as they approach the U.S. to Cat. 4 or Cat. 5 status, which was not common in the past. Hurricane Michael in 2018 and Laura in 2020 are two recent examples.

As for Laura, she could have easily veered left or right and made a direct hit on either the Galveston/Houston area, or New Orleans. The property loss and loss of life would have been much greater had either of those things happened.

 

[Montecfo]

Yes, but 3 in the last 4 years is not a good trend. Also, Hurricane Dorian last year was a Cat. 5 that barely avoided Florida, after devastating two islands in the N. Bahamas. As Audrey mentioned, some of these tropical storms in recent years seem to intensify very rapidly as they approach the U.S. to Cat. 4 or Cat. 5 status, which was not common in the past. Hurricane Michael in 2018 and Laura in 2020 are two recent examples.

As for Laura, she could have easily veered left or right and made a direct hit on either the Galveston/Houston area, or New Orleans. The property loss and loss of life would have been much greater had either of those things happened.

We had three category 4 hurricanes in three years in 1959-61. We three in five years in 1945-49. These were followed by longer periods with few storms. Timing appears to be characterized by randomnesses more than anything else.

As far as these storms weakening, strengthening, veering one way or the other, yes, these are just characteristics of the somewhat unpredictable nature of these storms.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Now we need to wait for these 2 yellow guys. (I think there is another following too) Hopefully they will amount to nothing.

 

[RAE]

Storm surge seems to have not reached predicted levels, a good thing.

Still plenty of damage to homes, etc due to both storm surge and wind, though. The videos at the link below show some of that. Had this storm struck a more densely populated portion of the coast, we would be hearing about way more about the damage it caused.

https://www.facebook.com/wxchasing/...fd--Df3hilJu-2ml5SQN8XD2CEWBF6Ipga4e4&fref=nf

 

[Montecfo]

Still plenty of damage to homes, etc due to both storm surge and wind, though. The videos at the link below show some of that. Had this storm struck a more densely populated portion of the coast, we would be hearing about way more about the damage it caused.

Sure. Hurricanes cause damage. But this was a far cry from the "unsurvivable storm surge" and similar predictions, thank goodness.

Had it hit less developed areas damage would have been less. It hit at about the best spot on that coast that it could,.population-wise, which was good.

All told a better outcome than predicted.

 

[RAE]

Even though Hurricane Laura did not hit any densely populated areas, the damage was/is still very extensive, as you would expect from a Cat. 4 hurricane. Life will not be back to semi-normal for those affected for months or even years, and there are thousands of people affected. We sometimes tend to quickly forget about the people affected by disasters like this after the event has passed, but we shouldn't. The article below details some of the damage caused by Laura, and efforts to begin the recovery process:

https://weather.com/news/news/2020-...ages-cleanup-louisiana-texas?cm_ven=hp-slot-1