Archive of the August 2011

• August 29, 2011

  Irene is gone...but not forgotten.

  Janice Dean | Meteorologist

  Good morning everyone. 

  I see the blog was active this weekend, and I guess I’m not surprised that a lot of folks used this forum to complain about the “over-hyped” coverage of Irene.    Because it is my job to  advise the public about weather that could affect their daily lives or livelihoods, I take these complaits a little personally.   65 million people were in the path of this hurricane,  and it was our job to do the best we could to report where the storm was headed and the very real dangers that “could” happen. 

  So the storm didn’t take out the Statue of Liberty, but it did cut power to millions, kill over two dozen people, flood millions of homes, bring down hundred year old trees onto roofs, and cut off roadways.  We still don’t know the scope of the damage as new video and pictures begins to come in.   I think it’s a little early to write this storm off.  I’m sure the folks in New Jersey, Vermont, and Massachusetts might have a valid argument on how Irene made a very real impact on their lives.  One they won’t forget anytime soon.

  If one person decided to pack up their family and get out of harms way because of our forecasting and warnings, then in my opinio, the “hype” was worth it.   

  I was home this weekend taking care of the people I care about the most.  We were in the direct path of Irene Saturday night and Sunday morning, so my husband and I spent many hours making sure we were prepared.   We had our generator ready, we filled the bathtubs, bought ice, canned foods, had everything charged up, our battery operated radios.  We made plans to take shelter in our basement with the boys if the storm got really bad.  And, I was scared.  Truly scared.  I guess I was falling for my own “hype”.  As it turned out, our house was spared.  But, others around our neighborhood weren’t so lucky.  We saw countless homes with trees and power lines down, flooded roads and emergancy vehicles storming the streets. 

  Here’s a couple of photos that were taken by our neighbors Tom and Mike:

   

  

  My first thought when the daylight broke was “Boy, am I lucky.”  My family is safe, and we still have a roof over our heads.

  There are many, many people who aren’t so lucky this morning. 

  Let’s go over the storm totals.  I think the pictures and the numbers tell the story pretty nicely:

  

  

  

  

  As for today, we take a breath.   The northeast is very quiet as people try to clean up.  We could see some strong to severe storms across the Interior West, and the heat is still baking parts of the west, the southern and central plains.  Houston tied its altime hottest record over the weekend of 109 degrees!  Yikes!

  And the tropics are kicking again – we have tropical depression 12 that will become tropical storm Katia shortly.  And as you can see by the forecast track, becoming a hurricane later this week.

  

  

  We’ll have to watch that one in the days to come.

  Hope all you regular bloggers are safe and dry!  Hug the ones you love!

  jd

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• August 26, 2011

  Latest on Irene

  Janice Dean | Meteorologist

  Hi everyone.

  Crazy busy today, but wanted to give everyone an update on the storm and where we think it will be headed over the weekend:

  As of the 11am advisory, the first landfall from hurricane Irene is forecast to be in North Carolina near Morehead City on Saturday from 6-10 am.  Keep in mind hurricane force winds upwards of 100 miles per hour and heavy rain will precede and follow landfall for hours. 

  

  Irene is then expected to hug the Mid- Atlantic coast.

  

  Landfall in the New York area can be expected on western Long Island from 9a -1pm on Sunday.  Conditions will be deteriorating  from the early morning on Sunday before and after landfall across the Tri-State.  Irene should be a Cat 1 or very strong tropical storm as it passes near NYC.

  

  Tropical storm conditions  will be experienced from Connecticut northward for the rest of the day Sunday. 

  Impacts:

  Damaging winds, moderate- severe inland and coastal flooding.  Some storm surge depending on the location.  6-10 inches of rain from Philly to NYC.   Trees and power lines will be down.

  

  I’ll be headed home to Long Island to hunker down with my family this weekend.   We’ve got all our supplies ready when Irene pays a visit.  Be safe everyone!

  JD

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• August 25, 2011

  Little Holden says it all!

  Janice Dean | Meteorologist

  Hi everyone…

  Sorry for the delay.  We’re in storm mode here.  An update on Irene shortly…but wanted to post this adorable picture that Jenna Gibson, our Supervisor of the DC booking unit sent me of her nephew, Holden:

  

  I need to get a t-shirt of this!  LOL!

  Be safe everyone -

  Oh, and by the way, if you have any advice on what to do during a hurricane, please give us your two cents.  I need to take notes!

  JD

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• August 24, 2011

  Irene lashes the Bahamas

  Janice Dean | Meteorologist

  Hi everyone.

  Hurricane Watch continues in the Fox Extreme Weather Center!  After undergoing “rapid intensification” over the warm waters through the Bahamas, Irene is now a dangerous Cat 3 major hurricane:

  

  The storm  is forecast to move Northwest and roar through the length of the Bahamas in the next 24 hours, and then move north.   Irene will then move close to or over the Outer Banks. By Saturday we could see a threat to Long Island and or coastal New England.

  

  Remember, the forecast error out 4-5 days is over 200 miles so a wobble to the left could mean the difference literally between tropical storm force winds and hurricane force winds. Irene is a very large hurricane, so the effects will be felt all along the coast potentially affecting 80 million people!

  

  Folks all along the east coast need to watch this storm very carefully and make your preparations now.  At the very least, we will see and feel very strong winds and tropical downpours for hours starting Sunday into Monday.

  In other news, I had a wonderful woman by the name of Lynn Hall interview me last week for the blog modernmom.com  I was very touched by her article, and wanted to share it with you guys…

  http://www.modernmom.com/blogs/lynn-hall/an-exceptional-journey-lessons-on-working-motherhood-from-janice-dean

  Hug the ones you love everyone!  Talk to you soon!

  JD

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• August 23, 2011

  Eyes on Irene

  Janice Dean | Meteorologist

  Hello everyone!

  It’s going to be a busy week/weekend in the Fox News Extreme Weather Center as all eyes are on Hurricane Irene making an extremely dangerous trek through the Bahamas, and quite possibly affecting the coastal areas from the Carolinas up into New England!

  Right now Hurricane Irene is  SE of Grand Turk Island moving west-northwest with maximum sustained winds of 100 mph, a CAT 2 storm.

  

  Irene will have a huge impact on the Bahamas and surrounding islands. They will start to feel hurricane force winds this afternoon and tonight. Some locations will see 5-10 inches of rain, and storm surge of 9-13 feet.

  

  Irene is expected to move NNW passing over the Bahamas by Thursday night…then start to curve North. The center of the storm is forecast to make a landfall around Wilmington NC Sat evening HOWEVER, this is still several days out and the average forecast error of the “cone” is over 200 miles. Just 24 hours ago we were thinking South Florida, so things can change. Im not ruling out a Midatlantic or even a Northeast/New England landfall either. There’s also a chance this storm could curve out to sea and not affect anyone. One of the reliable computer models skips the Carolinas and instead makes a bee-line for Coastal New England. We are watching several troughs move across the Northeast, and the timing of these will co-inside with the exact track of the storm.

  

  

  Given the current track of the storm, take a look at the widespread impacts we’re going to see from Irene this weekend:

  

  Obviously if you live anywere along the East coast from the Coastal Carolinas and New England, you need to pay close attention to the storm’s path, and make your plans accordingly.

  We’ll keep you posted!

  JD

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