Wow....

[Andrew92]

I sometimes enjoy reading past news articles about hurricanes of old on Google. Tonight I found this, and I nearly got goosebumps as I read it, considering both the location and the date. Not a long article, and I'm not going to spoil anything, but boy, little did they know.....

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1 ... 53,2599829

-Andrew92

[wxman57]

A week before Gilbert formed I was performing a hand analysis of the Caribbean & Gulf. Back then we had to plot our own maps and analyze them by hand. When I got to looking at the pressures in the western Caribbean it hit me - I'd never seen pressures so low down there before. A chill went through me and I made a comment to my coworkers that something big is about to develop down there. A friend of mine was vacationing in Cozumel when Gilbert hit. It wasn't a pleasant experience.

[Andrew92]

Gilbert must have been really freaky. I couldn't imagine going through a storm like that, and wouldn't wish it on anyone.

It's been 24 hours since I discovered the article from South Carolina about what Gilbert would have done, and I still have the chills. I mean, they couldn't have known obviously at the time, but with the benefit of hindsight, yeesh. One year later....and nearly to the date.

-Andrew92

[Ptarmigan]

A week before Gilbert formed I was performing a hand analysis of the Caribbean & Gulf. Back then we had to plot our own maps and analyze them by hand. When I got to looking at the pressures in the western Caribbean it hit me - I'd never seen pressures so low down there before. A chill went through me and I made a comment to my coworkers that something big is about to develop down there. A friend of mine was vacationing in Cozumel when Gilbert hit. It wasn't a pleasant experience.

I can imagine that being very scary.

Gilbert was forecasted to hit Texas from what I recall.

[Andrew92]

It was forecast to hit Texas a couple days before actual landfall. Cameron in Louisiana was also getting ready for the storm just in case. Even the Florida governor, Bob Martinez at the time, was advising residents to watch and have preparations ready just in case the storm made a surprise turn.

I was a little too young to know about hurricanes at the time, but this was one of the first monster hurricanes in my life. What a storm this must have been to track and follow. I say that even as I remember the immense pressure drop from Wilma like it was yesterday, breaking Gilbert's record. Hopefully we don't see another storm like Gilbert for a very, very long time. Dean was mighty close in 2007, but still, just yikes.

-Andrew92

[CrazyC83]

If Gilbert happened today with more accurate models, most likely the preparations would have been more focused. A Hurricane Warning was issued from about Port O'Connor all the way to Veracruz, with a Hurricane Watch all the way to Cameron, LA. If it happened today, more likely the warning would be only from about Cabo Rojo to South Padre Island, which would be less than half the area covered.

Likewise, if Hugo happened today, I think the Hurricane Warning would have been something like Brunswick, GA (if that) to Wilmington, NC (in 1989 it went from Fernandina Beach, FL to the VA-NC border).