How is it possible for Tropical Stm force wind in the mid Ma

[tgenius]

I just got back from a cruise in the Caribbean (Eastern) however there were certain days where the wind was low 70s for kilometers per hour, but one day there was ridiculous, high 80s all the way up to 92 kmph! How is this possible with no rain in the middle of the Atlantic?

[cycloneye]

In what part of the Eastern Caribbean that occured?

[Ed Mahmoud]

I don't know for sure, but I've heard winter cold fronts that can penetrate past Central America into the Pacific will sometimes bring near hurricane force winds in the Gulf of Tehuanepec.


One thing about cold airmasses moving over warm water, turbulent mixing will likely mix stronger winds down to the surface, at least in gusts, plus, of course, lower friction over water.



(That last bit of knowledge picked up from reading many weather discussions from NWS WFOs in Corpus Christi and Houston. Winter time post frontal winds are almost always windier over the Gulf than over Texas.).

[Ed Mahmoud]

In what part of the Eastern Caribbean that occured?

Is this related to the 30 foot waves in Puerto Rico thread?

[tgenius]

In what part of the Eastern Caribbean that occured?

This was (dates are a bit screwy as they are all jarbled up) Either getting to San Juan Monday to Tuesday OR leaving San Juan for St. Maarten on Tues to Wednesday.

It was something else how strong that wind was; They even blocked access to the outside of the ship due to the high wind speed for awhile.

[tgenius]

In what part of the Eastern Caribbean that occured?

Is this related to the 30 foot waves in Puerto Rico thread?

That would probably be related as the boat was rocking pretty wildly that night.

[cycloneye]

What I know happened as Ed said above was the extraordinary wave event that occured since 1991 (Perfect Storm) huge waves in the Puerto Rico,VI and Northern Leewards.Over 25 foot waves caused coastal floodings here.

[tgenius]

What I know happened as Ed said above was the extraordinary wave event that occured since 1991 (Perfect Storm) huge waves in the Puerto Rico,VI and Northern Leewards.Over 25 foot waves caused coastal floodings here.

This makes sense as they were talking about the Perfect Storm when we got to St. Maarten and Tortola (both would NOT allow us in the ocean, and St. Maarten even had the red flags up on the beaches)

[cycloneye]

Every year on Holy week,the beaches here are full ,but this year was a very different story.The good news was that no deaths were reported during this event.Only those brave surfers were out there enjoying it all.But even those were less seen as it was more dangerous than normal even for a pro surfer.

[MiamiensisWx]

First, I thought you encountered those winds this year...

Your original post suggests that it occurred on your recent 2008 cruise instead of 1991...

These waves were likely associated with a distant extratropical cyclone in the North Atlantic.

[tgenius]

Yes, this occurred on my cruise last week, what I meant (probably not very clear) is the tour center in St. Maarten and Tortola both were mentioning that the storm out in the Atlantic was comparable to the Perfect Storm of 91.

It was so bad we couldn't get in water in St. Maarten (Red Flag warning) and so bad in Tortola they actually cancelled everyone's excursions!

[cycloneye]

[Ed Mahmoud]

The 1991 Perfect Storm was mentioned later. This is recent, best I can tell.


BTW, the movie version, while pretty good, totally blew it by doing a movie upgrade on Grace to a Cat 5.

[MiamiensisWx]

Here's the ET cyclone in the upper right hand corner on Wednesday, March 18, 2008. Note the strong NE winds (see the abundant low-level stratocumulus) associated with a surface ridge southwest of the storm, which likely contributed to high surf.

ftp://eclipse.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/isccp/b1/.D2790P/images/2008/079/Img-2008-03-19-00-GOE-12-IR.jpg

Overall, it's a typical winter situation...

[Hybridstorm_November2001]

It's the effects of the Bermuda Triangle, 'nough said.