Hanna is looking more like a nor'easter to me this morning. I still hesitate to call any tropical system "just a nor'easter," but it's had a hard time pulling itself together into that classic pinwheel shape the last several days. It'll move up the coast at us, and we should prepare for lots of wind and rain, but as R2B mentions it'll be fast moving. I'm guessing the effects will be similar to what we get from the strong winter nor'easters except we're not getting snow.
Earlier I had said that Hanna stood a chance at being like Floyd of 1999 (here.) Today I thought better of that prediction. Floyd chugged across the Atlantic as a major hurricane and still had plenty of tropical features in it when it aimed at us. Hanna is having a hard time retaining its tropical features. It has spent more time in a state of disorganization than as a well-aligned system.
My eyes are turning to Ike, with great wonder: What will it do, once it is in the same place where Hanna is now? It could keep going and hit Florida, or it could follow Hanna's track up the east coast. This storm has more potential to be like Floyd, if not Bob (1991) or Gloria (1985)... IF it decides to come up the east coast.
Here's a bit of hurricane trivia: The last time a hurricane warning was issued for the New England coast was not in hurricane season at all, but in January 2005. The Blizzard of 2005 had maximum sustained winds greater than 74 mph (along the coast) and so the hurricane flags had to be hoisted over the ports. To avoid confusion, the National Weather Service advertised the alert as a "Hurricane Force Wind Warning" rather than "Hurricane Warning." The wind drove sheets of sea spray on the coastal homes where it froze so thick the owners had to chip their way in upon returning. It was a blessing, however: The ice layer was credited with protecting the structures from wind damage. Salem, Massachusetts got 38 inches of snow from that storm.
|