2007 Hurricane Season

[Chum]

One day into the 2007 Hurricane Season, and we've already got our second storm. Lets hope this won't be another year like 2004 or 2005.

June 01, 2007
tampabay.com
Hurricane season begins; hello, Barry
Hurricane season started Friday with the second named storm so far this year forming in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Cuba. At 5 p.m. Tropical Storm Barry had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph and was heading north. The National Hurricane Center issued a tropical storm warning for the gulf coast from Keaton Beach in the Big Bend area south to Bonita Beach in Lee County. The storm was 320 miles southwest of Tampa Bay at 5 p.m. and moving at 12 mph. It is not expected to strengthen. Forecasters said landfall could occur as early as Saturday afternoon, anywhere from the Tampa Bay area north to the Panhandle.

June 01, 2007 in Weather | Permalink

http://blogs.tampabay.com/breakingne...ane_seaso.html

[FloridaFuture]

I'll take the rain for sure. As long as there is no damage I'm happy.

[I-275westcoastfl]

Good we need some rain!!! Honestly im not concerned about Hurricane Season only thing is if one major hurricane happens then the same bs like in 2005 with insurance companies raising the rates through the roof and oil companies raising gas prices with every damn hurricane.

[Maxim98]

Well that was fun...

[kevin22]

yea

[kevin22]

guys i know we need the rain but i am glad to have our florida sunshine back. it feels great, i dont know if tampa or orlando are getting back to sunshine but miami is.

[I-275westcoastfl]

You guys had sun today?? In clearwater we maybe got an hour of actual sunshine then it was cloudy and rained again but we need it and it felt really nice so i liked it.

[kevin22]

Originally Posted by I-275westcoastfl

You guys had sun today?? In clearwater we maybe got an hour of actual sunshine then it was cloudy and rained again but we need it and it felt really nice so i liked it.

yea the sun came out in the afternoon

[FloridaFuture]

Hospital in storm zone gets $3.2M
FEMA will help fortify trauma center Tampa General Hospital.
By KEVIN GRAHAM
Published June 12, 2007



FEMA has given TGH nearly $3.2-million to make improvements to the hospital for hurricane protection. Part of the problem for the hospital is access. If the bridge is out during a hurricane, access to and from the hospital becomes very difficult.
[Times photo: Ken Helle]


[Times photo: Ken Helle]
Joe Baum, of Hurricane Manufacturer Corporation, installs the tracks for hurricane shutters over the windows at Tampa General Hospital.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Breaking News Video

TAMPA - Emergency planners usually frown when people who run the region's top trauma center insist they will stay put during a hurricane. Tampa General Hospital sits at the edge of an island, just 12 feet above sea level in a primary evacuation zone.

But the Federal Emergency Management Agency said Monday it will spend $3.2-million to fortify the hospital against wind and water damage, providing watertight doors, tougher rooftops and shutters capable of withstanding Category 5 storms.

The FEMA grant will pay for 75 percent of planned improvements. Tampa General, which began renovations for hurricane preparedness three years ago, expects to cover the difference.

"We've spent millions of dollars hardening the facility and developing a plan to be able to take care of patients during and after a storm," said hospital spokesman John Dunn. "The FEMA grant will help us take care of a lot of those things we were not able to budget."

"Little by little, we've been adding more and more protection," said Oslec Fernandez, the hospital's facilities management director. "We feel very confident we've done everything possible."

Aging gravel rooftops that leaked in previous storms will be repaired with flat roofing materials, eliminating dangers posed by flying pebbles.

New stainless steel mesh shutters - permanent fixtures color-coated to blend with hospital windows - can withstand debris flying at 157 miles per hour, Fernandez said. The 14-gauge metal is less than a tenth of an inch thick.

Windows on newer sections of Tampa General already can withstand a Category 3 hurricane and won't be improved, Fernandez said.

Workers have already installed shutters on some upper level floors expected to house patients during a storm. Monday, shutters went up on a bridge that connects the hospital to its Rehabilitation Center.

Larry Gispert, emergency manager for Hillsborough County, worries less about the bridges that connect hospital buildings and more about the bridges that connect Davis Islands to the mainland. A big storm could knock them out, he said, leaving Tampa General to fend for itself.

"I've always been concerned about isolation," he said. "This money does nothing to speak to that."

Hospital spokesman Dunn said the facility could, if need be, operate for up to five days on its own.

Even that leaves Gispert wondering.

"I would figure after five days we would figure something out," he said. He just isn't sure what that "something" would be.

As a Level 1 trauma center, Tampa General's patients include burn victims and people with newly transplanted organs. Moving those patients requires special equipment, which is in short supply, Dunn said. It's safer and more practical to relocate them within Tampa General than to move them elsewhere, he said.

Fernandez said the hospital made some facility changes after Hurricane Katrina. One was configuring the top floor of Tampa General's new parking garage to hold the weight of a Chinook helicopter, the largest rescue chopper used by the U.S. military.

Tampa General is the only bay area hospital so far to receive grant money from FEMA's Florida Long-Term Recovery program, but the agency is still reviewing applications.

Kevin Graham can be reached at kgraham@sptimes.com or 813 226-3433.

FAST FACTS:

Hurricane plan

Part of Tampa General Hospital's plan to shelter patients if a hurricane hits:

-Move patients out of rooms with windows.

-Move patients up to the third floor and down from the top floor, in case of roof damage.

-Send patients home who are close to discharge and cancel elective surgeries.

-Relocate the emergency room from the ground floor to a designated area on the fourth floor. When the hospital's new emergency room opens in November, it will be on the second floor.

-Use power from six generators, housed 20 feet above sea level with enough fuel for three to four days.
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/06/12/Hi...torm_zon.shtml

[Quegiebo]

Looks like the season is starting to get active.

I'm no expert, but to me it appears that there's a surface low pressure system trying to form in the gulf that's looking rather ominous on the animated satellite imagery. And after viewing the past 6-hour loop, it almost appears as if there's a high-level (cirrostratus) outflow pattern, as well.

Additionally, there's also another interesting wave just east of the islands that bares watching...

Nothing scary, I just find it very interesting, that's all. I hope everyone's prepared.

[TampaMike]

Originally Posted by Quegiebo

Looks like the season is starting to get active.

I'm no expert, but to me it appears that there's a surface low pressure system trying to form in the gulf that's looking rather ominous on the animated satellite imagery. And after viewing the past 6-hour loop, it almost appears as if there's a high-level (cirrostratus) outflow pattern, as well.

Additionally, there's also another interesting wave just east of the islands that bares watching...

Nothing scary, I just find it very interesting, that's all. I hope everyone's prepared.

........?

I don't see anything forming 'til Aug 13th or around then. The waves coming off Africa are getting more better defined though.

[HARTride 2012]

NOAA's Storm Count Steps Back, A Little
By NEIL JOHNSON, The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 10, 2007

TAMPA - Despite Thursday's slight reduction in the number of storms the federal government expects, conditions remain ripe from Africa through the Caribbean for hurricanes to form.

That is not good news for the United States.

Seasons with similar conditions typically produce two to four hurricanes that make landfall in the United States, said Gerry Bell, the head seasonal forecaster for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Thursday's prediction from NOAA for the 2007 season dipped slightly from the agency's forecast in May but still calls for an above-average hurricane season.

NOAA now calls for 13 to 16 named storms and seven to nine hurricanes. Of those, NOAA still expects three to five to become major storms with winds higher than 111 mph, unchanged from earlier predictions.

NOAA's updated forecast reduced the number of named storms and hurricanes by one each from what was expected in May.

If those numbers prove true, 2007 will be a highly active season, Bell said.

That's because little has changed in the season's first 10 weeks to indicate this year will be a repeat of the relatively tranquil 2006 season; another factor is that the peak of hurricane season runs from about now through the middle of October.

That's when most storms form as tropical waves and march across the ocean from Africa.

In fact, NOAA experts are more confident now of an above-average season than they were in May.

Water temperatures in the western portion of the tropical Atlantic and in the Caribbean Sea are about 1 degree above normal, Bell said.

Warm water is fuel for hurricanes.

Also, conditions in the Pacific Ocean likely to make it easier for hurricanes to form.

NOAA scientists now think there's slightly better than a 50 percent chance a La Nina will form before the end of the season, which is Nov. 30.

When water in the tropical Pacific cools to create a La Nina, winds blowing from the west seven miles above the earth diminish. Those winds can rip apart developing hurricanes. Without the winds, storms encounter little resistance.

Bell said the La Nina type climate pattern already is showing up in a quieting of hurricane activity in the eastern Pacific. When that happens there usually is an increase in Atlantic hurricanes.

'It's a seesaw,' he said.

A third element pointing toward an active hurricane season is a long-range climate pattern that combines warm water, atmospheric conditions and favorable wind patterns from Africa that settled into place in 1995.

Hurricane activity in the Atlantic swings from quiet to intense over long periods that can last 25 to 40 years. We are well into an active phase of that cycle, Bell said.

Nine of the past 12 years have seen above-average hurricane activity, which is 11 named storms, six hurricanes and two hurricanes reaching Category 3 or higher with winds topping 111 mph.

Reporter Neil Johnson can be reached at njohnson@tampatrib.com or (352) 544-5214.

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2007/aug...le/?news-metro

[tampamobster21]

Just when we thought it was ok to go and let our guard down.

[HARTride 2012]

^
The LaNina conditions in the Pacific will probably help fuel more Altlantic storms as we approach Sept/Oct.

[Jasonhouse]

That is a depression now.

[randommichael]

Now its Tropical Storm Dean...watch out Florida!

[TampaMike]

Originally Posted by NewPortRicheyGuy

........?

I don't see anything forming 'til Aug 13th or around then. The waves coming off Africa are getting more better defined though.

I must be psychic!

I see this storm hitting the Carolina Coast. High Pressure is blocking it from hitting Florida and the Bermuda High will prevent it from going out to the Atlantic so it will be pretty close or direct hit near the Carolinas.

I would be also watching the Atlantic next week with another wave that I believe will be TD #6 and could be our 1st Major Hurricane.

The Low in the Gulf will be our next TD, but it will be no threat to Florida, but Corpi Christi should be watching this.

Here we go!

[Robert.Maddrey]

Thankfully it has been a quiet year for us again, at least thus far. I am often reminded of just how late in the season Andrew was and the devastation it brought to our state beyond the immediate impact in south Florida.

[HARTride 2012]

Dean is now a Cat 2. Hopefully it stays away from FL.

[tampamobster21]

I was reading that the high that would keep it away from Florida is supposed to lift during the weekend, thus allowing it to go North. I would venture to say it is not out of the realm of possibilities for Florida.