Most Horrific Radar Image Ever...

[Downdraft]

What I remember most about Andrew is it cost Dr. Bob Sheets his job. Someone had to be scape-goated for the hit and Dr. Bob paid the price. A good perhaps hurricane forecaster and a great NHC director.

[jujubean]

aside from the destruction in a major hurricane, I saw some of the most unexplainable sights such as,in my home we didn't have shutters .... put up plywood, anyway, the dining room window was taken completly...plywood, window and frame ... just left a hole there. next to the window was a china cabinet that displayed flowers and dishes and stuff,not one item moved an inch....also I kept an ironing board in my closet and I found it standing pretty as you please right on top of my bed like someone had been ironing there lots of other stuff ...those are just the first that come to mind.

[jujubean]

What I remember most about Andrew is it cost Dr. Bob Sheets his job. Someone had to be scape-goated for the hit and Dr. Bob paid the price. A good perhaps hurricane forecaster and a great NHC director.

I never new that.... why did it cost him his job? just curious.

[Sanibel]

Their closet was the only part of the house left standing.

Most likely because they were holding it up...

[loon]

How wide was his eye at landfall? If I had to guess by the image (and I am not a good at guessing) I would say 15-17 miles wide? (I kinda cheated by trying to use yahoo maps, but I'm probably still wrong)

cheers,
loon

[ohiostorm]

I thought it was around 20 or so.

[Hurricaneman]

I thought 15 to 20 miles

[superfly]

How wide was his eye at landfall? If I had to guess by the image (and I am not a good at guessing) I would say 15-17 miles wide? (I kinda cheated by trying to use yahoo maps, but I'm probably still wrong)

cheers,
loon

Around 13-15 miles from what I estimate.

[HurryKane]

Using Google Earth, it appears that the inner diameter of that dark red ring is around 14 miles or so. Outer radius is around 28 miles or so.

This post brought to you by Google and the letter M.

[loon]

Ooohhhh how I love the letter M


cheers,
loon

[artist]

according to another former employee of the NHC on here it did NOT cost him his job. Not a very nice thing to spread without facts. (jmho)

[loon]

If he got fired, he got fired late, he didn't leave NHC until 1995

I quote:

"Dr. Bob Sheets grew up on a small farm near Fairmount, Indiana, and attended Ball State Teachers College (now University). Upon graduation in 1961, he was commissioned into the U.S. Air Force and was sent to the University of Oklahoma to study meteorology. After finishing his Air Force tour of duty, he joined the National Hurricane Research Laboratory (NHRL), co-located with the National Hurricane Center (NHC), where he studied hurricanes, directing field operations and making more than 200 flights through the eyes of hurricanes. In 1980, after more than 16 years at NHRL, he moved into the National Hurricane Center, serving as a Hurricane Specialist, Deputy Director and finally, its Director from 1987 to 1995."

[southerngreen]

http://www.ems.psu.edu/~nese/plate29.gif

Chills, everytime I see it.

It was bad, but it could've been SOOOOO much worse!

[Hurricaneman]

http://www.ems.psu.edu/~nese/plate29.gif

Chills, everytime I see it.

It was bad, but it could've been SOOOOO much worse!

Your right, it could have been 10 miles farther north

[Jim Cantore]

In my opinion the most famous radar image ever taken

Beautiful but deadly

if andrew hit when there was no warning 20,000+ dead

[Frank2]

Re: TheShrimper's post

My (former) house was under the northern portion of that doughnut - ugh.

Now you know why it was my house...

Frank

[TheShrimper]

Frank, were you in the Redlands or Kendall?

[FloridaDiver]

This picture is framed and on a wall in my home office as a reminder of what I went through in 92. For those that know the area hardest hit I had just moved into my new house in late June of that year. The house was in a new sub division down the street from Black Point Marina where my boat was stored. The one event I remember most was the sound of the garage door being blown in, after that it was a mater of minutes that my wife and I were in the first floor bathroom, in the tub, watching our house being systematically torn apart. When all was said and done the entire second floor was gone, not much of the first floor was left either. And then the real misery starts, wife goes banana's and leaves me, the cleanup, the heat, no job, no power for weeks, long lines for basic essentials and dealing with the insurance adjusters.

[Frank2]

Sorry for the delay - I lived 3 miles north of Metrozoo.

Here's a photo of my former house, 48 hours after Andrew (not the clearest, I know, as it's a copy from another web site - perhaps I can find and scan the original):

http://www.geocities.com/floridaweather ... 4454511005

Yes, as you said, many had terrible personal problems to deal with after Andrew. I really don't think anyone escaped getting hurt in some way (myself included) - when you look at that radar image, it's easy to see why the outcome was so difficult to deal with.

Frank

[Frank2]

Re: Downdraft's post

I had mentioned this on another post several weeks ago, but, it's worth mentioning again (I worked for Bob Sheets):

Bob Sheets retired per a family request several years after Andrew - he was not fired or blamed in any way for anything to do with this event, and, in fact, the NHC staff were given credit for remaining at their posts before, during, and after Andrew's passage, despite the staff's own concern for the safety of themselves or their families.

Frank