Ida's remnants pounding North and South Carolina; El Salvador flooding toll at 160
The remnants of Tropical Storm Ida have pushed off the coast of Georgia, and are adding fuel to a developing extratropical storm that is pounding North and South Carolina with heavy rain and high winds. Over two inches of rain has fallen across much of the region, and NOAA's Hydrometeorological Prediction Center (Figure 1) predicts that up to eight inches of rain could fall in coastal North Carolina by Saturday. Adding to the rainwater flooding problems from all this rain will be coastal flooding from tropical storm-force winds of 40 mph expected to build tonight through Thursday along the Outer Banks of North Carolina. High tides up to four feet above normal are expected from the strong winds. North Carolina will end up getting a more severe pounding from Ida's remnants than Ida gave to the Gulf Coast. You can follow the storm with our Severe Weather Page.
Figure 1. Forecast precipitation for the 5-day period ending at 7 am EST Saturday November 14, 2009. Image credit: NOAA/Hydrometeorological Prediction Center
Invest 98L no threat
Another extratropical storm (Invest 98L), currently spinning over the Atlantic a few hundred miles northwest of Puerto Rico, is showing no signs of development, and will be entering a region of very high wind shear of 30 - 40 knots on Thursday. It currently appears that 98L will swing northward and northeast out to sea on Friday and Saturday, and not merge with the extratropical remnants of Ida currently pounding North Carolina.
Gulf Coast cleans up after Ida
Tropical Storm Ida left mostly minor damage across the Gulf Coast, with the heaviest damage being reported on the west end of Alabama's Dauphin Island. Roads there were covered with sand and water, and moderate beach erosion was reported. At Gulf State Park at Orange Beach, Alabama, the new fishing pier--the longest on the Gulf of Mexico--suffered heavy damage, and will be closed indefinitely. The pier was replaced after being destroyed by Hurricane Ivan in 2004, and just opened in July. "We may have significant losses," said Phillip West, Orange Beach coastal resources manager, discussing beach erosion from Ida. "Not catastrophic or devastating, but significant."
In the Florida Panhandle near Pensacola, Ida washed huge amounts of sand over Fort Pickens Road in Gulf Islands National Seashore, and over heavily traveled J. Earle Bowden Way, which connects Pensacola and Navarre beaches. Both roads are closed indefinitely. Fort Pickens Road was washed out by Hurricane Opal in 1995, and moved to a new location. Hurricane Ivan washed the road out in 2004. It was rebuilt, but was destroyed and rebuilt three more times in 2005, thanks to Tropical Storm Arlene and Hurricanes Cindy and Dennis. The most recent rebuilding of the road put it at a lower elevation, to allow sand to wash over it. It is hoped the cost of this latest repair will be under $1 million.
Editorial comment: perhaps having a low-lying road along a barrier island that regularly washes out, requiring millions in taxpayer repair money to fix, is a bad idea?? Seems to me like this is taxpayer money ill-spent. The 1988 Stafford Act, authorizing the rebuilding of damaged infrastructure after presidentially declared emergencies, has resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer money being spent to rebuild infrastructure damaged by tropical storms and hurricanes on barrier islands. In an era of rising sea levels, and with the U.S. in the midst of an active hurricane period expected to last at least another decade, the Stafford Act just doesn't make sense. Those living in areas subject to a very high level of repeated coastal hazards should pay the bills for their willingness to live in harm's way, rather than depending on Uncle Sam.
In a interview in the New York Times after the last time Fort Pickens Road was washed out, Dr. Orrin Pilkey, professor emeritus in the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University and author of the excellent 2009 book The Rising Sea, said, "People say, 'What are you going to do, let the road fall in? The correct answer, of course, is yes."
Food shortages in El Salvador after floods kill at least 160
A tropical disturbance that dumped up to 17.4" (442 mm) of rain in 24 hours over central El Salvador on Sunday has triggered the need for urgent food aid after flood and landslides destroyed huge swaths of crops during harvest season, according to the U.N. World Food Program. The storm killed at leat 160 people, with dozens more still missing. About 13,000 people are homeless after the disaster.
Figure 2. Collapsed bridge at Santa Cruz La Libertad, El Salvador, with people trying to cross the river. Image credit: Wunderphotographer DiegoSagrera
For those interested in making a donation to assist in disaster relief for El Salvador, Portlight.org has a Paypal donation page set up for this. All funds raised will be forwarded to José Luis Escobar Alas, Catholic Archbishop of San Salvador, and used to assist flooding victims at the discretion of the Archbishop.
Jeff Masters
Tuesday morning as Ida passes through.
Reader Comments
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Also, my heartfelt prayers to the families of our fallen soldiers.
AOI
AOI
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AOI
No, not worried about my home...we lost power in County for several days to week from Isabel. The charm of living in older neighborhoods with big ol' trees and power lines above ground.
calm and rational now, lol, I may need to saddle up, pronto...we'll see.
I'm a disaster reservist; now w/Region III, out of Philadelphia. So that's most of the affected states so far, although not NC or NJ.
I'm not a first responder, just a public affairs type...
Speaking of dogs, Geoff you must bring the great-looking pups in your avatar to Dewey Beach, DE, some day. Might need a bit of shoring up by the Army Corps of Engineers :(
Hubby's home; time to tell him the bad news.
Be safe up there!
Thats pretty big.
Note: i have yet to see the Sun since monday.
Thanks for your posts today. Sounds like you're prepared.
And again to Vets and those serving in Armed Forces, and I'll add First Responders...Thank you for all you do and have done.
Neuse River, New Bern, North Carolina (PWS)
Updated: 4 sec ago
Heavy Rain
63.0 °F
Heavy Rain Mist
Humidity: 55%
Dew Point: 47 °F
Wind: 15.0 mph from the ENE
Wind Gust: 19.0 mph
Pressure: 32.14 in (Falling)
Visibility: 5.0 miles
UV: 0 out of 16
Clouds:
Overcast 600 ft
(Above Ground Level)
With that kind of pressure... we'd all be falling. :)
I know that all eyes are glued further North but there is an area of interest off the coast of Honduras at the end of a cold front that is sliding to the SE.
The 850 mb map also shows vorticity in the low levels. This does bear watching as many late season systems spin up from lows at the end of a front.
Neuse River, New Bern, North Carolina (PWS)
Updated: 2 sec ago
Light Rain
63.0 °F
Light Rain
Humidity: 55%
Dew Point: 47 °F
Wind: 14.0 mph from the ENE
Wind Gust: 19.0 mph
Pressure: 32.73 in (Steady)
Visibility: 7.0 miles
UV: 0 out of 16
Clouds:
Overcast 600 ft
(Above Ground Level)
Elevation: 30 ft
Rapid Fire Updates:
I would say that would be some type of record high pressure! Somebody needs to re-calibrate their barometer!
Hopefully that dissapates quickly! We do not need an instant replay of Ida, whose remnants have dropped tons of rain from AL, MS, GA, FL, TN, NC, SC, VA, DE and MD.
I just looked at my barometric conversion chart and it stops at 30.99 !
I second that but who knows. This has been a very odd year. I am certainly interested in seeing the Quikscat pass this evening, if it catches that area.
I believe the record for high pressure is 31.85 inches, set in Alaska in 1989. See link below:
Link
There is still a lot of energy in that part of the Atlantic basin obviously. We all saw how IDA spun up in that region. But, yes, I hope IDA will be the final tropical cyclone this season, but you never can count it out completely. Good point kmanislander!
There is a low there but forecasted to dissipate. We'll see.
Link
Both asending and decending passes missed that region!
Maybe the timing is off and it will be a shorter peak surge coincident with a low tide? We can hope, but don't hold your breath.
Undershooting on the prediction now does not bode well for the mid-Atlantic tomorrow evening.
That was this morning. The evening pass is the descending pass and it has downloaded the Eastern Caribbean. I don't know if the next swath will catch that area.
LOL
Not possible this late iin the season under the current atmospheric conditions.
However, there is still alot of untapped energy availiable in that region of the Caribbean.
Hi there. I am still jet lagged but at least I can use that for the next day or so as an excuse for not being too sharp LOL.
Funny thing though, about 8 hours into the flight, which was an hour or so away from Nassau , every toilet on the plane stopped working except one at the very front. With a full 767 that was interesting !!.
Anyway, once we landed they got the problem solved for the remaining hour to Grand Cayman.
I am glad to hear that Ida was less trouble than expected. Sometimes even a weak system can cause a lot of torment by dumping tons of water and causing flooding.
It was a fascinating system to follow. Looking back on the track, it had a right bias across Nicaragua and from there all the way to the Gulf coast a left bias with NNW to NW and N .
No two are ever the same.
Hi
It may not but who knows. Still a lot of OHC in the area.
Unless you live in a floodplain, yes, your biggest issue is prolly wind. Please do keep us posted...
LOL !!
Here is the updated vort map
The attendants locked them off. The first attempt to fix them in flight was to flush them all at the same time !!.
I told one flight attendant I didn't think that was a good idea LMAO
It's like a TS stalled over VA Beach, VA. Last several hours they have had winds near 40MPH with gusts near 50MPH. That NE wind is really going to cause what appears to be some serious tidal flooding.
True, that... If this setup was a month in the future, all the stores would have been stripped clean of bread and milk, as people panic over an encounter with winter.
Water temp near that low to the S of the Cayman Islands still near 85F, more than enough to support something big
I think shear will finish the job
Yes, footage would be interesting to see.
The north end of Outer Banks is running a full 1.5 feet over predictions.
July 80-86 Air Wing
The map looks correct. The N GOM ususally cools down to near 70F this time of the year. The S GOM stays toasty warm all year long however.
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Wanted to say thank you to all the veterans out there, thanks for giving your time, and thank for being there for the rest of us. I too come from a family of military service back to the revolution, all branches, army, airforce, navy. I've also had a son and a son-in-law serve in Iraq, so I know the sacrifice that all of our soldiers make. Please stay safe.
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