Since I am a relative newbie, but interested......

[StormChasr]

I am a relative newbie, but quite interested in weather, and view things from a mathematical perspective. In the opinion of some of the experienced mets here, which storms would you rank in the annals as "most intense Hurricanes of all time?" I'd love the benefit of your knowledge, as I am just becoming familiar with historical storms.

[boca]

welcome aboard from rainy Boca Raton FL

[StormChasr]

Thanx. Pouring here in Un-Sunny Daytona Beach.

[boca]

What's your opinion on the Bermuda high supposeably steering Hurricanes into FL for 2005.http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/weather/hurricane/

[tropicstorm]

For StormChasr -

The most intense hurricane ever recorded was Typhoon Tip in 1979 in the Pacific Ocean with a world record low atmospheric pressure of 25.69 inches. I believe the lowest barometric pressure ever recorded in the western hemisphere was attributed to Hurricane Gilbert in 1988, which rocked Cozumel, Mexico and produced a low pressure of 26.13 inches just prior to landfall. For U.S. landfalling hurricanes, the top three most intense storms were the no name Labor Day hurricane of 1935 that hit the Florida Keys with 26.35 inches, Hurricane Camille that struck Mississippi in 1969 with a barometric pressure recorded at 26.84 inches and Hurricane Andrew, which devastated South Florida with a mercury reading of 27.23 inches.

[wxman57]

I attended the 26th Conference on Tropical Meteorology meeting of the AMS in Miami last May. One of the presenters, Karl Haorau, made a convincing case using satellite data that Supertyphoon Angela and Supertyphoon Gay were both stronger than Tip. Problem is, there was no longer any recon to confirm this. You can view the presentation at the link below.

http://ams.confex.com/ams/26HURR/techpr ... _75465.htm

As for the Bermuda high's position in 2005, a cool-phase Pacific Decadal Oscillation combined with above-normal Atlantic SSTs points to a trof inland over the eastern U.S. like in 2004. Basically, a positive North Atlantic Oscillation. Presently, the NAO is about as negative as it ever gets and there's not much of any Bermuda high. But this is winter, and the pattern should change back over the next month or two.

[MWatkins]

As for the Bermuda high's position in 2005, a cool-phase Pacific Decadal Oscillation combined with above-normal Atlantic SSTs points to a trof inland over the eastern U.S. like in 2004. Basically, a positive North Atlantic Oscillation. Presently, the NAO is about as negative as it ever gets and there's not much of any Bermuda high. But this is winter, and the pattern should change back over the next month or two.

Yep...when we're getting strataform precip with temps hovering below 60 all day in March (here in South FL)...there ain't no ridging. We hit a new all-time record min temp for the day today at 63...and that was at midnight.

However...it looks like we are heading back to very warm temps (low/mid 80's) early next week after another dry front punches through over the weekend...then the mean trough looks to be heading back west...and it looks like we'll be waiting for the rainy season to start in late May.

After everything I've looked at this season...it does appear that the best analog for 2005 is 2004...although one minor synoptic scale feature could make a huge difference between a Texas and NC landfall for any given storm.

MW