Tropical Storm Arlene Nears Gulf Coast

Ptarmigan

Spaceman
First tropical storm of the year has formed, it is Arlene. Could become a hurricane. In 1993, we had a tropical storm named Arlene and it hit South Texas. It dumped heavy rain in Houston and as far as Northeast Texas and Arkansas, dumping much as 15 inches of rain in 24 hours.

Tropical Storm Arlene Nears Gulf Coast

Here's a crash course on hurricanes. A tropical storm and hurricane forms either from a tropical wave that forms in Africa, which are thunderstorm clusters, low pressure system, or frontal boundary for the Atlantic. Hurricanes form in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Mexico and western Pacific with typhoons. They also form in the Indian Ocean and South Pacific, known as cyclones. They do not form in the South Atlantic and southeast Pacific off the coast of South America because of a lack of Inter Tropical Convergence Zone and strong wind sheers. A tropical storm has to have at least 39 mph to 73 mph. After 74 mph is a hurricane. They are divided in 5 category based on wind speed, based on the Saffir-Simpson Scale for hurricanes.

Tropical Depression=Below 39 mph
Tropical Storm=39 to 73 mph
Category 1=74 to 95 mph (Claudette 2003)
Category 2=96 to 110 mph (Georges 1998)
Category 3=111 to 130 mph (Alicia 1983)
Category 4=131 to 155 mph (Great Galveston Hurricane 1900)
Category 5=+155 mph (Camille 1969)

Category 5 is the worst. The last one was Ivan last year. The strongest hurricane ever recorded was 870 millibars with Typhoon Tip in October of 1979, which also is the largest, had gale force winds 700 miles from the center. The strongest Atlantic hurricane is Gilbert with 888 millibars and 185 mph sustained winds. The highest sustained winds was 195 mph with Camille in 1969.
 
The town I live in was practically ground zero for Hurricane Claudette. According to news reports before landfall it had gotten fast enough to be a Category 2 but was never officially classified as such.

The one reported death from Claudette was in Victoria, TX, where I was staying with a friend at the time.

Consequently, Claudette hit on my dad's birthday.
 
I used to live in Victoria, back in '88.

A friend of mine lives in Birmginham, Alabama. He texted me this morning when Arlene started pounding on central AL, saying, "Birmingham is on the way to destruction."

I'm in Starkville, Mississippi. The only major thing we're getting right now with Arlene is wind. There's a little rain, and the sky is so dark it seems that nightfall is near. Now hurricane Ivan, that was another story... Ivan hit us with ferocity. It tore through the South all the way up to my fiance's hometown of Asheville, North Carolina. A few weeks ago I was in Gulf Shores, AL. Ivan hit in September of last year, and they've still got a long way to go down there. Buildings are still gutted, there's debris all over the place. And sand from the shore is all up in the marshes.
 
Grimloc said:
He texted me this morning when Arlene started pounding on central AL, saying, "Birmingham is on the way to destruction."

I'm in Starkville, Mississippi. The only major thing we're getting right now with Arlene is wind. There's a little rain, and the sky is so dark it seems that nightfall is near.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/06/11/tropical.storm.arlene/index.html
"Before it made landfall, reconnaissance aircraft determined that Arlene had grown weaker with 60 mph winds." That shouldn't be too bad. No way a typhoon would ever reach Seattle, but we've had windstorms with 90+ mph winds and things held together fine.
 
Chris: Yeah, it's not bad. Keep in mind how far up into the state Starkville is, though. It's not very common for us to get anything from the coast.
 
I would guess that hurricanes there don't make landfall, and so there's less need to track them. But that's just a guess.
 
d3r3k said:
Why don't they give names to hurricanes in the North Indian Ocean?

The North Indian Ocean is under the Indian meteorological agency I believe. I believe it is their choice not to name them. Those hurricanes in the Indian Ocean do hit land and they can have devastating effects. The worst hurricane occurred in Bangladesh in November 1970 where it left at least 300,000 people dead. It led to the formation of Bangladesh, which was East Pakistan at the time of the hurricane.
 
I was on a cruise all week and we were supposed to dock at the Cayman Islands when it hit there. Obviously we and ever other ship going there didn't and just kept going to our next port. Kinda sucked, but the extra day at sea was pretty cool. Rough waters and a little rain, but nothing too bad.
 
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