I think Wilma had many localized Cat 3 microbursts

[Tampa Bay Hurricane]

Regarding South Florida and Wilma:
The severe microbursts were embedded in powerful convection
within Wilma as it passed over the state. Hurricanes are characterized
by severe microbursts with windspeeds that may be shockingly higher
than what we have normally come to expect. The true nature of
these microbursts are still a mystery to us, but their presence is clear.
There are many witness accounts of these severe microbursts across
South Florida. Also some damage as illustrated by s2k members and
articles above suggest higher wind speeds than expected. This is
an interesting phenominon, and further study will certainly be
essential in future hurricane research.


Regarding Central Florida and Wilma:
People should never let their guards down even if a storm is passing
80-100 miles to their south. Tornadoes are one reason. Severe
microbursts are also sufficient reason.It is interesting to note that NWS Tampa Bay was forecasting sustained winds of 39 to 49 mph with gusts
to 76 mph in St. Petersburg- this forecast was available at 5 AM
Monday morning using point-forecast... and was a forecast based on the maximum gusts in rainbands...for Wilma's approach. In fact there is an
gust report of 72 mph near sea level at the base of the Sunshine
Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay.---> This report is unofficial*.


General Information:
Severe or Damaging winds can occur well away from the center. That is the point I am trying to make. The same thing happened with Dennis. When it passed over Cuba, some of its rainbands caused damage in south florida and even up into the west central coast as it parelled the west FL coast.

A major factor is the size of these storms. If Charley when it
hit Punta Gorda had been Wilma's size, the damage would
have been a lot more extensive over a larger area, especially
due to the rainbands and expanse of severe winds.

[Derek Ortt]

The damage I have seen is VERY consistent with a cat 1 in MIA and a cat 2 in Lauderdale. There is LITTLE IF ANY total structural failure, typical of a cat 3 or higher

Most of south Florida, DID NOT get sustained hurricane force during Katrina. This time, they did.

This should demonstrate just how destructive category 1 (and 2 for Lauderdale) winds are

[ALhurricane]

I think it boils down to the fact that people cannot comprehend what a Cat 1/2 hurricane can do. Especially the past two years with all the big storms, people tend to lose their prespective.

The comparison I always bring up is a Cat 1/2 hurricane versus a derecho sweeping across the central portion of the country. If a straight line wind event can do serious damage, then why do people think everything will be okay in a Cat 1/2 storm? I just don't understand the logic.

Even though your house is built to withstand such winds, unfortunately that tree on your property is not and may end up on your house. There are so many things to consider when ANY strength of hurricane threatens.

[WxGuy1]

I think it boils down to the fact that people cannot comprehend what a Cat 1/2 hurricane can do. Especially the past two years with all the big storms, people tend to lose their prespective.

The comparison I always bring up is a Cat 1/2 hurricane versus a derecho sweeping across the central portion of the country. If a straight line wind event can do serious damage, then why do people think everything will be okay in a Cat 1/2 storm? I just don't understand the logic.

Even though your house is built to withstand such winds, unfortunately that tree on your property is not and may end up on your house. There are so many things to consider when ANY strength of hurricane threatens.

I completely agree. Part of the problem is that, for a typical hurricane, the strongest winds are usually very close the eye. If a hurricane makes landfall 75 miles for you, while you may be under a hurricane warning, you probably won't see real sustained hurricane-force winds unless the hurricane is rather large. Since winds tend to decrease quite a bit away from the coast (inland), that further reduces the chance that you'll see true hurricane-force winds for any given storm unless you're near the eye and near the coast. This certainly isn't bad, except people tend to associate the term 'hurricane force' with winds that aren't actually hurricane force winds, thus making things seem extraordinarily bad when they do get true hurricane force winds. Even for a major hurricane, those >115mph winds usually reside very near the eye, so few folks see those high winds (unless the eyewall hits a major metro / population area, but those odds are statistically small for any given storm).

[T'Bonz]

The damage I have seen is VERY consistent with a cat 1 in MIA and a cat 2 in Lauderdale. There is LITTLE IF ANY total structural failure, typical of a cat 3 or higher

Most of south Florida, DID NOT get sustained hurricane force during Katrina. This time, they did.

This should demonstrate just how destructive category 1 (and 2 for Lauderdale) winds are

Only a two? Then I'm the hell out of here for a cat 3 and above (before Wilma, I said I'd leave for a cat 4 or above.)

[Dr. Jonah Rainwater]

I thought we already learned this lesson with Frances, and with Katrina's first landfall...

[Derek Ortt]

yes

Lauderdale only got cat 2 winds, and only in the southern eye wall

[T'Bonz]

Yeah, that eye wall was a bear.

[WeatherEmperor]

I think it boils down to the fact that people cannot comprehend what a Cat 1/2 hurricane can do. Especially the past two years with all the big storms, people tend to lose their prespective.

The comparison I always bring up is a Cat 1/2 hurricane versus a derecho sweeping across the central portion of the country. If a straight line wind event can do serious damage, then why do people think everything will be okay in a Cat 1/2 storm? I just don't understand the logic.

Even though your house is built to withstand such winds, unfortunately that tree on your property is not and may end up on your house. There are so many things to consider when ANY strength of hurricane threatens.

I agree. As long as there is humanity, there will always always be some people that will be ignorant and underestimate the power of a hurricane. Unfortunately, that is the way of human nature.

<RICKY>

[richtrav]

Speaking of Celia, the weather bureau in Corpus has a nice section on it. There is a graph of the damage caused by the outbursts here:

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/crp/docs/resear ... lia-20.jpg

And for all these threads i've been reading lately about how cat3 winds really aren't as high as people say, well, Celia passed right by just to the north of the National Weather Bureau's recording station at the airport, which is probably 7 miles west of the bay. Note their recorded winds and gusts:

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/crp/docs/resear ... lia-18.jpg

[thefixed]

About the underestimating a storm's strength..that is completely the case. Left and right people were stating how it'll "only be a Cat. 1 or 2" and I would get very mad and start firing off at them. They were running on the assumption that since Frances was a Cat. 2 that we sustained those winds when in reality we had Tropical Storm force winds. And Jeanne being a Cat. 3 and they assumed we got Cat. 3 winds for that. But certainly now they shouldn't say "only a Cat. 2" the next time (hopefully there won't be of course) one is on it's way.

[inotherwords]

I saw this on another discussion board. This person is from Ft. Lauderdale.

We have $10,000 STEEL hurricane shutters, reinforced with STEEL rods, and they are built to withstand 150 mph winds. Our windows are shatterproof glass, and are supposed to withstand 150 mph winds. The steel shutters crumbled like they were gum wrappers. My "hurricane proof" windows flew out of their reinforced locks. Our hurricane proof roof, built to withstand 150 mile an hour winds peeled off like it was a layer of onion.

These kinds of common reports, plus the pictures of the FP&L poles snapped in half, really make me wonder. I've been through a Cat 2 storm and did not witness damage like this.

I would tend to believe that there could have been microbursts of much higher winds to cause these kinds of conditions, but I'm not a met by any means.

[Scorpion]

I saw this on another discussion board. This person is from Ft. Lauderdale.

We have $10,000 STEEL hurricane shutters, reinforced with STEEL rods, and they are built to withstand 150 mph winds. Our windows are shatterproof glass, and are supposed to withstand 150 mph winds. The steel shutters crumbled like they were gum wrappers. My "hurricane proof" windows flew out of their reinforced locks. Our hurricane proof roof, built to withstand 150 mile an hour winds peeled off like it was a layer of onion.

These kinds of common reports, plus the pictures of the FP&L poles snapped in half, really make me wonder. I've been through a Cat 2 storm and did not witness damage like this.

I would tend to believe that there could have been microbursts of much higher winds to cause these kinds of conditions, but I'm not a met by any means.

Yea, I agree. Steel poles snapped in half really makes me wonder. When I was watching the storm outside, I would see many times that the winds came from both directions. It was odd. Sometimes there would be some big gusts that would send debris flying everywhere. I am just glad that I was ground level so the friction of the houses and trees around me stopped the wind, or I would have been hurt bad.

[T'Bonz]

I had shutter failure (three in the front of the house early on, then after the eye and when we got the backside of the storm, one shutter on the back of the house). My husband's coworker had shutter failure. My neighbor across the street had a tree limb pierce his shutter and then break his sliding glass door.

On our local news, they referred to shutter failure. So either the storm was stronger than it would appear or else shutters aren't what they're cracked up to be.

It was rather disconcerting to have shutters fail, multiple times. And hearing that I wasn't alone. During Katrina (which I rode out alone), I felt secure due to the shutters. From now on, after Wilma, that security is gone, since some of them failed.

If it were just me, I'd say "bad installation" or whatever, but it happened to many people (or so said or news). And it happened during a category 1 storm? What does that say if we get a 3?

[HeatherAKC]

Just to back up the shutter failure debate....

I also lost shutters on a south facing window and a west facing window. Home was built in 2003 and came with shutters as all new construction does in S. Florida.

Yes, it makes me rethink my philiosophy that I would stay in my shuttered up home for any storm.

I also have a hard time believing that Miami had sustained winds of less than 90mph. The things I saw last Monday morning and all last week lead me to believe otherwise. Don't bash, I know the offical accounts of the winds,
it's.
just.
so.
hard.
to.
believe.

[Derek Ortt]

many of the light poles were not properly installed, neither were the windows

also, a lot of the windows were sucked out, not blown in

[kometes]

My house was built in 1990, so it's pre-Andrew. The windows are not up to any code, that's for sure. The upper pane of the windows that open is held in by a vinyl glazing bead. That is just a plasitc strip that acts like a spring-loaded clip to hold in the window. Sunlight has degraded the vinyl to the point where I don't expect these windows to hold in a strong thunder storm, much less a hurricane. The vinyl is brittle and can be easily broken. I was lucky this time and didn't lose any windows but I have accordian shutters that I don't hesitate to close.

I imagine that this situation is repeated tens of thousands times over in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties.

If anyone knows anything about re-enforcing existing windows, I would appreciate any info.