Camille....for the skeptics

[f5]

i was trying a wind configuration experiment on my calcuator.that means using the 1.4 -1.6 gust ratio model Andrew with 165 mph winds would of had 230-250 mph wind gust almost F-5 tornado strength starting at 261 mph

[george_r_1961]

the 190 m.p.h. gusts equate to 118-135 m.p.h. sustained using the 1.4 to 1.6 sustained wind to gust ratio given by Asklahuna

huh

[TSmith274]

People in coastal Mississippi and lower Plaquemines Parish claim that Katrina put Camille to shame. Don't blame the messenger.

[superfly]

I don't get it. Why were we able to measure such high wind gusts back in 1969 but all our wind instruments fail in cat 1 winds nowadays?

[Matt-hurricanewatcher]

Cheap plasic wind gauges...They break with 50 mph winds or more. We will never know just how strong Katrina was because its surge moved inland so far away from the coastline. Also because all the wind gauges where destroyed.

[Lindaloo]

People in coastal Mississippi and lower Plaquemines Parish claim that Katrina put Camille to shame. Don't blame the messenger.

Veterans of Camille were humbled by Katrina. That says it all right there.

[TSmith274]

Yeah, seriously, why can't they make a windguage that doesn't fail?? Seems like every historic hurricane has it's own story of "winds were measured at XXXmph before the instruments failed"...etc...

I say someone on here designs and gets a patent on a windguage that:
1) Doesn't blow away... Thats like saying... "Wow, that storm dumped 6 inches of rain before the rainguage started leaking!" I mean, really.
2) Sits high enough to no be taken away by storm surge. Make it like 50' high, and we'll make wind speed adjustments later.

Somebody start working on it.

[senorpepr]

Yeah, seriously, why can't they make a windguage that doesn't fail?? Seems like every historic hurricane has it's own story of "winds were measured at XXXmph before the instruments failed"...etc...

I say someone on here designs and gets a patent on a windguage that:
1) Doesn't blow away... Thats like saying... "Wow, that storm dumped 6 inches of rain before the rainguage started leaking!" I mean, really.
2) Sits high enough to no be taken away by storm surge. Make it like 50' high, and we'll make wind speed adjustments later.

Somebody start working on it.

That's much easier said than done. Getting the windguage to hold up to that strength is quite possible, but then you run into the issue of power. How will the windguage record this data without power. Of course, a large enough battery could help there. However, you still have the issue of cost. Windguages already cost plenty, if you want it to be somewhat accurate at those speeds. To fine-tune the accuracy plus increase the strength, you'll make the cost of it even higher. As it is, there are very few credible instruments along the coasts because of this factor. Boosting the costs will only lower the amount of reporting stations.

[Forecaster Colby]

So make it portable. Secure it to the ground on a low-wind-profile steel pole.

[senorpepr]

So make it portable. Secure it to the ground on a low-wind-profile steel pole.

First, to make it portable reduces it's strength. Secondly, portability (or the ability to make the guage to an area of strongest winds during a hurricane) isn't easy to do. You can make the best guess prior to the storm arriving, but that doesn't always pan out well. Ask the HIRT team (Mark Sudduth) about that.

Essentially it would be a toss up between strength and portability. When one increases, then other will decrease to some degree.

Furthermore, the more you try to increase both strength and portability, your cost will skyrocket.

[Forecaster Colby]

I actually met him once, we chatted for a good ten minutes.

[f5]

solar power wind gauges with portable batteries that run when the sun is down.its called energy conservation

[Forecaster Colby]

Yeah, solar power works great in canes

A slow moving or large storm would drain the batteries before the brunt arrived.

[f5]

Yeah, solar power works great in canes

A slow moving or large storm would drain the batteries before the brunt arrived.

what strange is the amount of energy used by a CAT 5 in that amount of time can give NYC free electricity for a whole year.as far as using solar power as energy for wind gauges if it sits around like Wilma did in the Yucatan it won't do any good

[wxmann_91]

solar power wind gauges with portable batteries that run when the sun is down.its called energy conservation

What about wind power? Unlimited amount of that in hurricanes.

[Forecaster Colby]

O.O a powerless anemometer design! Use the power FROM THE WIND to measure and record!

[Aslkahuna]

Actually that IS how an anemometer works. The spinning cups generate an electrical current that is converted to a windspeed reading. The problem arises with the display. Now you can have an analogue display that reads off a meter calibrated to show windspeed as a function of the amount of current (glorified voltmeter), and one of my field anemometers that I mount on my chase vehicle is just that while the other is a battery operated digital readout, but the robustness of the sensor head is a problem there with neither guaranteed to withstand Cat 3-5 gusts. The Davis I have on the house is supposedly more robust but the readout requires a power source which will go out in a big storm. The old Bendix-Frieze Aerovanes were an excellent instrument for robustness but the chart recorders generally required either a mechanical clock mechanism or a power source. We used these in the field with the mechanical recorders at FHU until we fielded the mesonet stations pattern after ASOS (or should I say the other way around since our network went up before ASOS even started to deploy) The big difference being that since our stations were intended for use in the field they had Solar Cells for primary power with a battery backup that could provide three days backup plus a tape recorder that would record the data (30 day capacity) in addition to it being transmitted back to the station thus the data could be retrieved if comm was lost. In the high wind locations, we would mount the solar panels low to protect against windforce and flying debris.
Contrary to popular opinion, you can still get electricity from a modern photovoltaic system even on cloudy days. Our network has survived hurricane force wind gusts and high TS force sustained winds with few failures and those were related to problems with the site and getting the towers properly guyed. The biggest problem wit the network has been from lightning especially with the mountain sites since it's hard to drive a grounding rod (or guy anchor) into solid rock.

Steve

[f5]

solar power wind gauges with portable batteries that run when the sun is down.its called energy conservation

What about wind power? Unlimited amount of that in hurricanes.

thats the problem the wind blows it away.wind is a good source of energy but we don't need the CAT 5 type

[MGC]

Katrina put Camille to shame because of the water not the wind. Even is an instrument were designed and built to withstand hurricane winds, debris impacts would destroy the instrument......MGC

[m_ru]

Katrina put Camille to shame because of the water not the wind. Even is an instrument were designed and built to withstand hurricane winds, debris impacts would destroy the instrument......MGC

Thank you MGC...the whole time I've been reading this I've been thinking...."what about flying debris?" "what about flying debris?" Glad someone finally gave flying debris the credit they deserve lol.