Question--What happened in Andrew??

#1 Postby **Deenac813** » Sat Sep 13, 2003 11:01 am

Ok.. let me first start by saying I am NOT comparing Isabel to Andrew.. I am just wondering what happened with Andrew to NOT make him turn to the north? I am just trying to learn so please no comments about Isabel and Andrew are not the same etc.. I am just trying to figure out the difference.. Thanks!

Deena

#2 Postby **Air Force Met** » Sat Sep 13, 2003 11:08 am

Andrew had a trough pull him north...then a large ridge build back in and drive him west. I was forecasting at Ft Hood back then. It was well forcasted days in advance and was no surpise even by those old models we used back then (LFM...Barotropic...Baroclinic...and some others I can't remember).

Izzy will have a trough to her west. The ridge will build to her east and orient north south. This will orient the steering flow around Izzy and steer her in a NW-N direction over time.

jewli · #3 Postby **jewli** » Sat Sep 13, 2003 11:10 am

don't quote me on this because I'm no expert but if my memory is correct hurricane andrew was supposed to be picked up by a trough but instead stalled east of the bahamas which allowed a ridge of high pressure to build and send it due west.

Chase224 · #4 Postby **Chase224** » Sat Sep 13, 2003 11:11 am

If I also remember that Bryan Norcross Hurricane Guru said that the storm was going to go out to see that was 4 days before the storm was going to hit

#5 Postby **Deenac813** » Sat Sep 13, 2003 11:15 am

Air Force Met wrote:Andrew had a trough pull him north...then a large ridge build back in and drive him west. I was forecasting at Ft Hood back then. It was well forcasted days in advance and was no surpise even by those old models we used back then (LFM...Barotropic...Baroclinic...and some others I can't remember).

Izzy will have a trough to her west. The ridge will build to her east and orient north south. This will orient the steering flow around Izzy and steer her in a NW-N direction over time.

Thanks Air Force Met.. us south floridians have a tendency to compare every storm to Andrew & seeing that Isabel is at almost that same coordinates that Andrew was at one time I was wondering what the difference is.. Thanks again!

Deena

#6 Postby **MWatkins** » Sat Sep 13, 2003 11:22 am

First...check out this vapor image of Andrew getting sheared to bits in the same general neighborhood that Izzy is in now...just before it started to come back.

http://www.tropicalupdate.com/andrewupperlow.htm

That trough/upper low weakened...a ridge develiped with an axis extending from well west of north Carolina to another high in the Western atlantic. These two highs more or less bridged and took Andrew due west.

In Izzys case...the Atlantic high is there but there is no broad/expansive high in place in the east.

MW

KeyLargoDave · #7 Postby **KeyLargoDave** » Sat Sep 13, 2003 11:35 am

Not disagreeing with any posts above, but one thing to remember about Andrew -- it was a HUGE suprise for SF. Without checking the actual data, my memory is that as late as Thursday, Andrew was barely registering. It started slow, it suffered incredible sheer, it almost fell apart, it repositioned itself, the high deepened. It was just a little storm a bit east of the Bahamas.

Then it exploded to Cat 4 and took off at 20 mph and faster due west. That sparked action at the Broward/Palm Beach line -- the first place that really looked threatened. As it drove toward florida, it sunk slightly, about 1.5-2 degrees, until it was aimed at south Dade. It wasn't known it would hit there until Sunday night, less than 12 hours before landfall. The storm hit the coast at 5 am Monday.

The warning for a major hurricane and GET OUT NOW orders didn't happen until Sunday morning, less than 24 hours before it got here. I heard the evac order as I woke up from a night of partying around noon on Sunday, when my roomate walked into the room and said, "Dude, they're saying we have to evacuate."

The FTL Sun-Sentinel has a great Shockwave tracking animation map, where you can step through the track and see the the strength and position and time for any storm. Check out Andrew (1992 first storm) for a frightening look at a storm that only got dangerous a few days from landfall:

Here is the cool historical tracking map online:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/custom ... .htmlstory

Hope y'all find this useful.

#8 Postby **Deenac813** » Sat Sep 13, 2003 11:41 am

Thanks Mike! I am learning & comparing the difference between the 2 storms really helps me.. I appreciate it!

Deena

#9 Postby **Deenac813** » Sat Sep 13, 2003 11:44 am

KeyLargoDave wrote:The warning for a major hurricane and GET OUT NOW orders didn't happen until Sunday morning, less than 24 hours before it got here. I heard the evac order as I woke up from a night of partying around noon on Sunday, when my roomate walked into the room and said, "Dude, they're saying we have to evacuate."

The FTL Sun-Sentinel has a great Shockwave tracking animation map, where you can step through the track and see the the strength and position and time for any storm. Check out Andrew (1992 first storm) for a frightening look at a storm that only got dangerous a few days from landfall:

Here is the cool historical tracking map online:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/custom ... .htmlstory

Hope y'all find this useful.

Thanks Dave.. the sun sentinel website is really neat.. I remember that about Andrew that we really did not have that much warning & they kept saying it was not going to hit us.. I guess that is why I keep an eye on storms until they are well to the north of me..

Deena

Question--What happened in Andrew??

Question--What happened in Andrew??

Andrew

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Facts about Andrew?

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