Hurricane Ike – Florida Keys – September 8-9, 2008
During the first week of September, 2008 Hurricane Ike tore through the islands of Turks & Caicos and Great Inagua as a category four, with sustained winds of 135mph, before making landfall on the north coast of Cuba as a strong category three, with 120mph winds.
Ike crossed the eastern and central provinces of the Cuban mainland and moved offshore, paralleling the south coast of the island, making another landfall over the western portion of Cuba and emerging into the Gulf of Mexico.
The hurricane continued across the Gulf and made a final landfall near Galveston, Texas as a borderline category two/three, with 110mph winds, during the early morning hours of September 13th.
The hurricane caused extensive wind and storm surge damage in the affected areas, virtually obliterating several coastal communities on the Bolivar peninsula of the upper Texas coast.
With monetary losses over $31 billion (USD), Ike is now ranked as the third costliest hurricane in United States history.
From the afternoon of September 7th through the evening of September 9th, storm chasers Michael Laca, Jim Leonard, Jose Garcia and Max Hagen intercepted numerous outer rainbands, from Hurricane Ike, in the middle and lower Florida Keys, as the storm passed well to the south.
At the time of Ike’s closest point of approach to the Keys, the hurricane was a category one with sustained winds of 80mph and a central pressure of 965mb (28.50in).
Although the center of Ike remained a significant distance (150 miles) to the south, the hurricane had a very large windfield and produced sustained tropical storm conditions (39-73mph), with gusts of near hurricane-force, across most of the Florida Keys, which resulted in some minor wind damage.
These strong winds produced a 2-3ft storm surge in exposed locations on the Atlantic side of the lower Keys. During high-tide, many low-lying areas experienced significant flooding.
Numerous tornadic thunderstorms were also embedded within the outer rain bands of Hurricane Ike and several confirmed reports of tornadoes and tornadic waterspouts have been received from locations throughout the Keys.
Duration : 0:8:30
Categories: Hurricanes Tags: 1080i, 1080p, 2008, 50, 60, 70, Bahamas, Bahia, BD, Blu, Bolivar, Bridge, Caicos, Category, Chase, chaser, chasing, Coastal, Cuba, Cyclone, Deadly, Definition, disaster, flag, Flags, flood, flooding, Florida, Four, Galveston, HD, HDV, Heavy, High, Honda, Howling, Hurricane, Ike, Inagua, Islamorada, Key, Keys, Laca, Landfall, Michael, mph, Palm, Palms, Peninsula, Pier, rain, Ray, September, South, spray, storm, Street, Strong, surge, Texas, Tree, Tropical, turks, video, Violent, Warning, Wave, waves, west, White, Wind, Winds
Hurricane Charley – Port Charlotte, FL – August 13, 2004
Hurricane Charley strengthened rapidly just before striking the southwestern coast of Florida, over Charlotte Harbor, as a Category Four hurricane. Although extremely small in size, Charley produced sustained winds of 150mph and gusts to near 175mph, causing catastrophic wind damage in the communities of Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda, FL. The Charlotte County Medical Center recorded an unofficial gust of 150kts (173mph) and the Charlotte County Airport recorded 139kts (160mph). Charley’s minimum central pressure at landfall was 942mb (27.82in) and I recorded 950mb (28.05in) at my location near Fawcett Memorial Hospital. Veteran storm chaser Andy Dressler accompanied me on this chase.
Duration : 0:4:31
Categories: Hurricanes Tags: 2004, Charley, Cyclone, disaster, extreme, Florida, Hurricane, Hurricanes, Severe, Storms, Tropical, Typhoon, Weather, Wind
Hurricane Rita – Key West, Florida – September 20, 2005
This is a sample of my Hurricane Rita storm chase video. The footage was taken as Rita moved westward through the Florida Straits, passing about 40 miles south of Key West. Peak winds, towards the middle of this clip, are near 75mph with gusts near 100mph. By the end of the clip, storm surge has risen to about 2 feet over South Roosevelt Blvd., along the southeastern tip of the island.
Duration : 0:7:8
Categories: Hurricanes Tags: 2005, Cyclone, disaster, extreme, Florida, Hurricane, Hurricanes, Meteorology, Rita, Severe, Storms, Tropical, Typhoon, Weather, Wind
Hurricane Gustav – Morgan City, LA – September 1, 2008
Hurricane Gustav ravaged portions of the Caribbean in late August 2008, resulting in deadly flooding over Haiti and then crossing western Cuba on the 30th as a strong Category Four, with 150 mph winds.
A day after emerging into the southeastern Gulf of Mexico, Gustav leveled off as a Category Three. The hurricane remained at that intensity as it approached the coast of Southern Louisiana, prompting the largest evacuation in the state’s history on fears of another Katrina-type disaster.
Throughout the evening of August 31st, drier air began to work its way into the system and Gustav responded by weakening slightly to Category Two intensity.
Just prior to, and during, landfall Gustav began a trend of increasing organization with intense convection developing within the northwest and western eyewall. The hurricane made landfall near Cocodrie, Louisiana on September 1st at 14:30UTC with sustained winds of 110mph and a central pressure of 955mb.
Storm chasers Michael Laca, Jim Leonard and Max Hagen, as well as filmmaker Chris Terrill, intercepted Hurricane Gustav in Morgan City, Louisiana. Our chase team recorded a minimum pressure of 957.3mb at 17:26UTC and estimated peak winds at our location between 80-100mph. An unofficial observation of 103mph was reported by another chase team in Morgan City. Official wind readings include 86mph at Grand Isle; 82mph at Amerda Pass; 75mph at New Iberia; and 91mph at Baton Rouge.
After intercepting Gustav’s eyewall and eye in Morgan City, our chase team repositioned ourselves to the northwest and intercepted the northwestern eyewall a second time between Franklin and New Iberia. During this second eyewall intercept, we encountered exceptionally heavy rainfall that made driving conditions extremely hazardous.
After Gustav’s eyewall moved on, we once again repositioned ourselves to the northwest in Lafayette, Louisiana and intercepted Gustav’s core a third time. Though weakening, the storm still produced intense winds, driving rains and significant damage well inland.
Duration : 0:8:32
Categories: Hurricanes Tags: 100, 1080i, 1080p, 2008, August, BD, Blu, Bridge, Category, Chase, chaser, chasing, city, Cuba, Cyclone, Deadly, Debris, Definition, disaster, flood, flooding, Gustav, HD, HDV, Heavy, High, Howling, Hurricane, Iberia, Laca, Lafayette, Landfall, Louisiana, Michael, Morgan, mph, new, orleans, rain, Ray, September, storm, Strong, Torrential, Tropical, Two, Unroofed, video, Violent, Warning, Wind, Winds
Hurricane Michelle – Nassau, Bahamas – November 5, 2001
Hurricane Michelle moved over the Northwestern Bahamas on the morning and afternoon of November 5, 2001. After making landfall in Cuba as a Category Four, the weakened storm moved just south of Nassau with maximum sustained winds of 90-95mph and gusts to 110-115mph and a minimum central pressure of 973mb (28.73in).
Duration : 0:6:43
Categories: Hurricanes Tags: 2001, Bahamas, Cyclone, extreme, Hurricane, Hurricanes, Michelle, Nassau, Severe, Storms, Tropical, Typhoon, Weather, Wind
ShelterBox Disaster Relief
ShelterBox respond instantly to natural and manmade disasters by delivering boxes of aid to those who are most in need.
This film gives an introduction to the disaster relief agencies work around the world and how they do it.
For more information and to find out the latest news from current deployments please visit www.shelterbox.org
Duration : 0:6:30
Categories: Disaster Relief Tags: Aid, Cyclone, disaster, earthquake, floods, haiti, Humanitarian, Hurricane, Indian, Ocean, Pakistan, Relief, shelter, tent, Tsunami, Typhoon
Hurricane Katrina – Miami, Florida – August 25, 2005
This is a sample of my Hurricane Katrina storm chase video. The footage was taken during Katrina’s first landfall on the Southeast Florida coast near Miami. Peak winds occur after the eye and are near 85mph with gusts to 105mph.
Duration : 0:5:16
Categories: Hurricanes Tags: 2005, Cyclone, disaster, extreme, Florida, Hurricane, Hurricanes, katrina, miami, Severe, Storms, Tropical, Weather, Wind
Hurricane Katrina (High Quality) – Coral Gables, Florida – August 25, 2005
Between August 23rd and 30th, 2005 Hurricane Katrina, became the 11th named storm, fifth hurricane, third major hurricane and second Category Five hurricane of the record-shattering 2005 season. Katrina also has the infamous distinction of being both the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the top five deadliest hurricanes in U.S. history.
On August 23rd an area of disturbed weather associated with a tropical wave became better organized over the western Bahamas and was classified Tropical Depression 12, while moving west-northwest towards the Florida east coast. The following morning, the depression reached Tropical Storm strength and was named Katrina. Turning towards the west, the storm began to intensify steadily and reached hurricane strength a few hours prior to reaching the Florida coast.
Katrina made landfall at Golden Beach, Florida (near Miami) as a minimal Category One hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph (70kts) and a minimum central pressure of 984 mb (29.06 in).
From the evening of August 25th through the early morning hours of the 26th, storm chaser Michael Laca intercepted Hurricane Katrina at Coral Gables, Florida. At my location I encountered sustained winds near 80 mph (70 kts) with peak gusts near 100 mph (85 kts).
Hurricane Katrina produced minimal hurricane condtions across portions of the extreme southern Florida peninsula (from Ft. Lauderdale southward through southern Miami-Dade county), with tropical storm conditions elsewhere across the region and through the Florida Keys. The highest officially reported winds in southeast Florida during Katrina’s passage were 73 mph (63 kts) with a peak gust of 93 mph (81 kts) at Virginia Key (just south of Miami); 70 mph (60 kts) with a peak gust of 88 mph (76 kts) at the Miami WSFO (near Sweetwater) and 60 mph (52 kts) with a peak gust of 82 mph (71 kts) at Fort Lauderdale. Unofficial wind readings include a peak gust of 92 mph (80 kts) at Port Everglades and 97 mph (84 kts) at the Homestead General Airport. The lowest pressures observed in South Florida were 983 mb (29.02 in) from the Miami WSFO and 988 mb (29.17 in) at AOML on Virginia Key. Katrina also produced exceptionally heavy rainfall over southern Miami-Dade county with several locations reporting storm totals between 10-15 inches.
After passing South Florida, Katrina emerged into a very favorable environment over the Gulf of Mexico and strengthened rapidly. By the afternoon of August 28th, Katrina reached its peak intensity with a central pressure of 902 mb (26.64 in) and maximum sustained winds of 175 mph (150 kts). In addition the hurricane’s windfield expanded significantly, nearly doubling in size. After reaching peak intensity, Katrina began to turn towards the north and gradually weaken as it neared landfall across the northern Gulf.
On the morning of August 29th, Hurricane Katrina made landfall near Buras, Louisiana as a high-end Category Three with maximum sustained winds of 125 mph (110 kts) and a minimum central pressure of 920 mb (27.17in). A few hours later, the hurricane made its final landfall near the mouth of the Pearl River, on the Mississippi/Louisiana border with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph (105 kts) and a minimum pressure of 928 mb (27.40).
Although the hurricane weakened significantly prior to landfall the storm’s very large windfield, along with the perpendicular approach, and the bathymetry of the northern Gulf coast combined to produce an extremely high storm surge on the east side of the hurricane. Values between 24 – 28 ft (7 – 8.5 m) were observed, devastating virtually all of the vulnerable low-lying Mississippi coastline and sweeping many locations completely clean. On the west side of the storm, the high surge values also resulted in the overtopping, and subsequent failure, of several levees within the New Orleans area, releasing massive flooding in numerous low-lying communities.
Hurricane Katrina’s combined impacts across the affected areas, resulted in a staggering 1,836 direct fatalities (the highest death toll from a U.S. hurricane since the Lake Okeechobee storm of 1928) and $90.1 billion (adjusted) in damage, making Katrina the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history.
After moving inland, Katrina maintained hurricane strength for nearly 150 miles (240 KM) inland. The storm was eventually absorbed into a frontal boundary over the eastern Great Lakes on September 31st.
Duration : 0:4:16
Categories: Hurricanes Tags: 100, 1080i, 1080p, 2005, 80, 90, August, BD, Blu, catastrophe, Category, Chase, chaser, chasing, Coastal, Coral, county, Cyclone, Dade, damage, Deadly, disaster, DVD, Five, flood, flooding, Florida, Gables, HD, Heavy, High, Historic, Hurricane, incredible, Intense, katrina, Laca, Landfall, miami, Michael, mph, one, Palm, Palms, Quality, rain, Ray, Record, South, Southern, storm, Strong, Three, Tree, Trees, Tropical, Uprooted, video, Violent, Warning, Wind, Winds
Hurricane Storms Thunder Lightning Erin Ike Northern Lights Kitesurf Ohio
Shows Storms and Hurricanes over Ohio
Hurricane/Tropical Storm Erin over Ohio, showing thunder, lightening, mammatus clouds, sailboats, seagulls, bats, geese. Taken around 8-9:30 pm on 07.08.22. Near the center of the first formation shown are cumulous mammatus clouds, which can be associated with tornados. Later someone in the next county sighted a tornado and the Licking County sirens went off according to the 11:00 NBC news. Hurricanes are destructive not only on the coast, their remnants (as shown here) cause much interior damage. In Ohio, as much as 1 foot of rain fell within a few hours in some areas. Severe flooding inundated several places. Several counties were declared disaster areas.
A funnel cloud was reported over the Alum Creek Lake three days after this (while still in the weather pattern) and emergency procedures were activated: http://youtube.com/watch?v=WLV5XWdP7PE Note in the last portion of the video, that before many of the lightening strikes, the clouds could be seen dancing (especially the portion in the center of the cloud formation). Sometimes they became a little brighter. Then there would be a lightening strike.
Video also shows dangerous KiteSurfing during Hurricane Ike. The end of the 65 ft. jump begins at 1:31 (the beginning wasn’t filmed). The portion of the video showing the hurricane begins at :53 and ends at 1:57. Someone just photographed the end of the jump and let us use the film (trip43065 and Ron). Conditions were such that a person could hardly stand up, let alone film.
(Portions used with permission of JohnPurdueSite, trip43065, and Ron)
Hurricane Ike was Ohios worst natural disaster. Although most think of it as a costal disaster, it also hit Ohio. It hit Texas on September 13, and it is considered the the fourth costliest hurricane in US history behind only Katrina, Andrew, and Wilma. It hit Ohio September 14 with winds raging up to 78 mph a Category I hurricane. It is Ohios only hurricane. Much of the damage has yet to be repaired.
While most people stayed inside for safety (as branches and roof material flew by), some were out in the dangerous winds kitesurfing.
Web Site: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:WwLUKelWyzkJ:www.rms.com/ClientResources/Catupdates/CatUpdatePublic.asp%3Fevent_id%3D2658+%22Ohio%22+%22hurricane%22+%2275+mph%22&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
“As Ike tracked in a north to north northeast direction inland it maintained tropical characteristics until it reached Arkansas on Sunday, 14 September at which point it dissipated as a significant tropical cyclone and began extra tropical transition. Later that day the remnants of the storm merged with a frontal boundary across the lower Ohio Valley. The presence of a deep low pressure associated with the frontal boundary generated a tight pressure gradient to the south and east of the low as it tracked into northwest Ohio through Sunday evening, creating strong winds with gusts in excess of 70 mph over a large area across the Ohio Valley. The winds also persisted for several hours which is uncharacteristic of typical severe thunderstorm events. Whilst the strongest winds were recorded in Ohio, the effects of Ike’s remnants also spread across Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio and Pennsylvania.”
Duration : 0:4:48
Categories: Hurricanes Tags: 14, 2007, 2008, 22, Andrew, August, Big, Category, champion, cloud, cumulous, Cyclone, danger, disaster, Erin, extreme, good, High, hit, Hurricane, Ike, jumps, katrina, kite, Kiteboard, Kitesurfing, lightning, lights, long, Louisiana, Madness, mammatus, northern, off-shore, Ohio, Oil, power, rage, Safety, September, siren, storm, strike, surf, surfboard, Texas, Thunder, Tropical, Weather, Wilma, Wind, worst
Hurricane Frances – Jupiter, Florida – September 5, 2004
Hurricane Frances was a long-track Cape Verde hurricane that reached a peak intensity of 145mph, Category Four, north of Puerto Rico. Moderate wind shear began to affect the storm and it crossed the Southeast and Central Bahamas as a Category Three with winds of 115-130mph. Frances continued to weaken to a Category Two, with winds of 105mph, as it approached the Northwest Bahamas. Steering currents weakend on September 4th and Frances responded by turning to the west and slowing to a crawl. Over the following 48 hours, Frances made a very slow landfall over the Florida east coast, coming onshore near the south end of Hutchinson Island as a category Two, with peak winds of 105-110mph. Minimum central pressure at landfall in Florida was 960mb (28.35in). I was accompanied on this chase by storm chasers Jose Garcia and Karl Hoarau. The video also includes some behind-the-scenes footage from the National Hurricane Center, with several forecasters, including my good friends Eric Blake and Max Mayfield (the center’s director at that time).
Duration : 0:4:0
