Monday, August 17, 2009

Wicked weather

After my third "hey, didn't you just have a tornado?" email/text/phone call, I figured that I should let you all know that I'm still alive and well. I wasn't going to mention it because it didn't hit my immediate area, but since you all are hearing about it back in MICHIGAN, I guess it's noteworthy after all.
Yes, a tornado came through on Sunday afternoon/early evening. It was in the Ft. Myers "metro" area but in a neighboring city, Cape Coral. As far as tornados gone it was pretty small and, amazingly, no one was injured. Still, it damaged 23 homes and even upended a car. Here are a few pics:


And as if twistas weren't enough to worry about, we suddenly have a flurry of activity in the Atlantic, as well. The most immediate threat is Ana, although "threat" isn't really the right word since, as of Monday night, they expect it to be downgraded soon. The official forecast track has "the center of Ana approaching Southwest Florida by Thursday morning"; however, Ana would be "a weak tropical storm" at most. They advised that we should not "be surprised on Wednesday if Ana makes a last fight to strengthen" while simutaneously stating that "it's important to note that none of the official guidance indicates restrengthening." In other words: they don't have a freakin' clue. We'll know a LOT more in about 48 hours. We're watching it, but no one is boarding up the windows just yet.

Along those same lines, here's what they say about Bill (which is shaping up to be a much more dangerous storm--possibly even a 4, aka a Bad Ass Hurricane): "While every computer forecast model has this turning north with time, some of the morning model guidance pushes the track back farther west (ie, back towards Florida)."

...Thanks for clearing that up.

6 comments:

Renee said...

Wow, I hadn't heard about the tornado! So chalk the absence of any concerned emails from me up to ignorance, not indifference :-)

Meteorologists have the best job in the world. They can say whatever the hell they want and not really be held accountable for anything. Bastards :-)

Anonymous said...

You took those pictures??Are you crazy? How close were you??

Renee said...

LMAO. I'm sure the pictures are from the news or something.

Jen said...

Yes, MOTHER, cuz I know it was you, it was from different websites.

anna said...

We had a tornado touch down & do damage in Minneapolis, not more than 10 miles away, this week. No one at my office knew anything was going on because they fired the amazing office manager who used to keep track of the weather so she could tell the office to seek shelter during tornadoes. Nice choice of firing morons. We all miss her.

Jen said...

Holy crap anna! That's really scary...I think you need to appoint a new Torndado Tracker. Just a helpful hint from me to you. ;)