No Hurricanes in TN! (Knoxville: condo, home, tornado)

[Jon F Moss]

Wrong side = "dirty" side of the hurricane where all the sloppy stuff happens.

FIL & step-MIL have house in Englewood but are forced to watch from a distance up in NY

Friend in Tampa with twins had to get updates on the storm from her bro living out near Vegas b/c she's so busy with the boys. Save your sanity and don't watch the local media!

Ok, I'll stop here
I just have bad memories of Rick Sanchez from Channel 7 and bryan Norcross from WTVJ

[mjb62676]

Honest question...why did they cancel school for rain? Is it a flooding concern on the roadways?

I understand cancelling school for hurricanes, but I've never heard of cancelling school for what amounts to a thunderstorm event.

I guess it's more precautionary than anything.

The peak winds are usually just near the eye of the storm, correct?

[ShanRaye]

The eye is about 50 miles from us and our gusts are up to 70. It is VERY windy. No thunder/lightening though. I would not want my child standing in the rain waiting for a bus. It was smart for them to close the schools.

[Hillbillyfever]

Hmmmm,when did Fay become a hurricane? I live on the east coast of Fl and am in the middle of tropical storm Fay.Big difference in tropical storm and hurricane,smiles.

[ShanRaye]

Originally Posted by Hillbillyfever

Hmmmm,when did Fay become a hurricane? I live on the east coast of Fl and am in the middle of tropical storm Fay.Big difference in tropical storm and hurricane,smiles.

She is not a hurricane. I said gusts are 70. Labelle, FL reported 89 mph gusts. The winds have stayed around a steady 35-40. I am in the Buckingham area of Fort Myers. I have lived here all my life and know the differences between hurricanes and storms.

[gailli]

It's my understanding that the East Side of Fl around Palm Beach is getting pelted, also they think Fay may go back over water then come in again, possibly go back to the Gulf , they really dont know at this point. I dont think people are dumb that they dont know the difference in a Hurricane and a Trop Storm but at this point I dont think they care, as long as gusts are as high as they are its the difference between apples to apples.

http://i531.photobucket.com/albums/dd353/gailli/at200806_model.gif (broken link)


What a confused mess Fay is, she doesnt know where to go

[Suzanne45]

Originally Posted by mjb62676

Honest question...why did they cancel school for rain? Is it a flooding concern on the roadways?

I understand cancelling school for hurricanes, but I've never heard of cancelling school for what amounts to a thunderstorm event.

I guess it's more precautionary than anything.

The peak winds are usually just near the eye of the storm, correct?

Yes, peak winds are nearer to the eye but also the NE quadrant of the storm is the messiest. We are being told that those areas east of I-4 will have the greatest chance of the higher rainfall and greater intensity of winds. We live west of the Interstate!

As far as canceling school--Orange County Public Schools says that it is unsafe and unpredictable for buses to be transporting students with sustained winds over 35 mph. Now, I do know that March winds often gust to over 60 mph and school is not closed.

OCPS announced today's closure at 2:09 p.m. Monday. You should have heard the parents complaining on the nightly news that they didn't have enough time to make arrangements for their kids during today's closure. Just more proof that some parents view school as their 'right to a babysitter.' Now, I will get off my soapbox.

VIPER did the best job so far in predicting landfall and movement over the state. A new update is scheduled for 4 p.m. Presently, it looks like Fay will slowly exit FL somewhere near Melbourne. However, she then takes a track over the ocean and predicted to come back to North FL (Jax)/South GA Thursday and/or Friday.

[mjb62676]

I figured it was more of a safety precaution and planning thing than anything, and that makes sense. Where I grew up, you often didn't get the opportunity to plan for things like nasty winds, torrential rain, and dangerous lightning unfortunately.

Hope everyone down there stays safe, and it wouldn't hurt my feelings in the slightest if Knoxville could somehow get some nice steady rain out of the storm eventually. I've been watering every other day, and there are still cracks everywhere in the lawn.

My lawn is one thing, but if there's one thing I understand from my days growing up on the farm...no water is really not a good thing at all. The farmers in this area need rain badly. Crossing Norris Lake everyday is a constant reminder of how dry it's been. It's dropped a ton just in the last week.

[gailli]

Winds.
Tropical storm fay is expected to emerge off th coast on Wednesday and develop into a hurricane before moving westward toward the coast. This will allow winds to increase across inland portions on thursday with tropical storm force wind conditions possible.
Probability of hurricane/tropical storm conditions.
The probability of tropical storm conditions developing is 40 to 60 percent. The chance for strong tropical storm conditions is 10 to 20 percent. The probability of hurricane force winds is 5 to 10 percent along the immediate coast. Should the storm maintain the forecast track and expected intensity, these probabilities would increase with time.
Inland flooding.
Rainfall amounts could potentially reach 4 to 8 inches with locally higher amounts through Friday as the storm slows offshore and then approaches the coast once again. If the storm moves very slowly across the area rainfall amounts can be much higher. This amount of rain can produce flooding of roads, especially those with poor drainage. Known intersections with very poor drainage may have water levels up to 3 feet. Other poor drainage areas will have water rises of 1 foot. If approaching a flooded roadway, turn around don't drown.
Tornadoes.
Isolated tornadoes will be possible beginning late Wednesday and into Thursday.
Next update.

[hiknapster]

I just want to give a big "hello" to all the forum friends in Lee and Collier County!

Also, a big wave to everyone else in Florida!

I stayed glued to the News-Press all day, which had wonderful video of the area. Looks like poor Marco got it the worst.

Another reason that they cancel school is due to power outages, some of them are even planned when it is safer to turn off the power rather than deal with transformers blowing, etc.

These kind of storms tend to be fun, unless you are new, then they can be scary. The veterans don't worry about them too much. Not when it is only a tropical storm.

However, it was fascinating to watch Fay as she became stronger over the Everglades. My coworkers were fascinated when I showed them that the storms can strengthen when they get over the steaming water of the glades.

Anyway, big hugs to all of you.