Irene hits New Jersey and New York; Jose threating Bermuda; 92L forms
Hurricane Irene hit New Jersey ten miles north of Atlantic City at 5:30 am EDT, as a minimum-strength Category 1 hurricane with 75 mph winds. Irene is only the second hurricane since 1851 to hit New Jersey. At 9 am EDT, Irene made a third U.S. landfall over Long Island, NY, and New York City, as a tropical storm with 65 mph winds. Top wind gusts measured in New York City were 60 mph at Central Park at 3:58 am; 67 mph at La Guardia at 4:10 am; and 59 mph at JFK Airport at 1:33 am. A 91 mph gust was recorded in Sayville, NY on the Central Long Island coast, at 7:02 am. Emergency managers reported that the nearby town of Lindenhurst (population 28,000), on the south side of Long Island, was mostly under water due to a storm surge. The storm surge at The Battery on the southern shore of Manhattan reached 4.0 feet, overtopping the sea wall in several locations. Fresh water run-off from Irene's torrential rains, riding on top of a 3 to 4-foot storm surge, allowed the swollen East and Hudson Rivers to overflow at the edges of Manhattan. Irene's rains have now ended in New York City, after accumulating to 7.60" at Central Park. This brings total rainfall for the month of August in New York City to 19.68", making it the wettest month in the city since record keeping began in 1869. The previous record was 16.85", set in September 1882. Philadelphia, PA and Newark, NJ have also set all-time wettest month records, thanks to Irene's rains. The 19.40" of rain that has fallen in Philadelphia this August is probably the most rain any major city in the Northeast, U.S. has received since 22.43" fell in Newark, NJ in August 1843, according to wunderground's weather historian, Christopher C. Burt.
Figure 1. Storm surge at The Battery on the south end of New York City's Manhattan Island as of noon EDT Sunday, August 28, 2011. The green line is the storm surge, which is the difference between the observed water level (red line) and what the water level should have been without the hurricane (blue line). At 4:45 am, the storm surge peaked at 4.0 feet. The surge declined to about 3 feet during the high tide cycle, then rose again to near 3.9 feet as the tide started going out. Image credit: NOAA Tides and Currents.
Figure 2. Total rainfall over the past 30 days along the mid-Atlantic coast and New England has topped 15 inches (purple colors) in many areas, making August the wettest month in recorded history for the cities of Philadelphia, Newark, and New York City. Image credit: NOAA/AHPS.
Irene's rains bringing significant river flooding
Irene brought more than eight inches of rain to a long stretch of the Atlantic coast from North Carolina to New York. NOAA's Significant River Flood Outlook is showing that significant river flooding is already occurring along coastal regions of North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey, and is expected to spread to Eastern Pennsylvania, eastern New York, Western Massachusetts, and most of Vermont and New Hampshire.
The 1903 Vagabond Hurricane
The only other hurricane to hit New Jersey since 1851 was the 1903 Category 1 Vagabond Hurricane. According to Wikipedia, the Vagabond Hurricane caused heavy damage along the New Jersey coast ($180 million in 2006 dollars.) The hurricane killed 57 people, and endangered the life of President Theodore Roosevelt, who was sailing on a yacht near Long Island, NY, when the hurricane hit. New Jersey only rarely gets hit by hurricanes because it lies in an portion of the coast that doesn't stick out much and is too far north.
Figure 3. The path of the 1903 Vagabond Hurricane, the only other hurricane to hit New Jersey since 1851.
Tropical Storm Jose forms
Tropical Storm Jose formed this morning in surprise fashion, managing to maintain enough heavy thunderstorms in the face of very high wind shear of 40 - 55 knots to become the season's tenth named storm. Jose does not have long to live, due to the strong upper-level winds from Hurricane Irene that are creating the shear. Jose will likely bring strong winds near tropical storm force later today when it passes just west of Bermuda. Satellite loops show that there is very little heavy thunderstorm activity associated with Jose, and Bermuda will see much less rain than is usual for a tropical storm passing so close.
Elsewhere in the tropics: Invest 92L forms
A strong tropical wave located off the coast of Africa, about 200 miles south of the Cape Verde Islands, is moving west at 10 mph, and has been designated Invest 92L by NHC this morning. This system has a large amount of heavy thunderstorm activity and moderate amount of spin, and appears likely to develop into a tropical storm later this week, as all of the computer models are developing it. NHC is giving 92L a 40% chance of developing into a tropical depression by Tuesday. This storm will be moving more slowly across the Atlantic than Irene did, and will take at least 6 days to reach the Lesser Antilles Islands. Forecast tracks from the long-range GFS and ECMWF models suggest that Bermuda might be the only land area threatened by 92L, but it is too early to be confident of this.
Hottest day in Houston's history
The mercury hit 109°F (42.8°C) yesterday at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport, tying September 4, 2000 as the hottest day in the city's history. Yesterday was the also the hottest August day on record in Houston, besting the 108°F reading of August 18, 1909. This year, Houston has set its record for all-time hottest temperature, most 100° days in a year (36, old record was 32, and 4 is normal), and most consecutive 100° days (24, old record was 14.) Weather records in Houston go back to 1889. Houston needs 20.18" of rain to get to normal levels of rainfall for the year. Today's high is predicted to be 107°F in Houston, so yesterday's record may be in danger of being broken today. By the end of the week, Houston is expected to cool down below 100°, and a weather pattern conducive for bringing summer rains will move in.
I'll have a new post Monday morning.
Jeff Masters
Tree puzzle, after Irene (
bluesy)
Reader Comments
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Yeah, I know, lol.
yep
and if something comes again and it will
the flags will go up
no matter what any of us say
I love the way you did that. Quoted the dumb quote without including the dumb comment. The ignore button is my friend today more than any other day in the last 3-4 years here on WU.
At my school, my homeroom teacher and History teacher talked about Irene and nuthin' else LoL.
whats that word am looking for yet me see
here it is your an idiot and you no where idiots go
POOF on my | Ignore
Now Levi, you know not to ask something so big.
Well, that is kinda cool.
That is a weak point. More children will be killed today via car accidents than by Irene. Should parents not allow their children in automobiles?
any one else see it???
How does the the pattern look for a long west tracker in your opinion. You have posted the upper patterns before but I don't know what they are called, the GFS and the EURO.
That's how I found out the damage was so severe in parts of PR.
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I wish they would make a regular blogger an moderator, like Levi or someone.
+1. Nobody leaves here anyway so send them down when you think we might need them!
Current Weather in Halifax: warm gusty southerlies... more winds expected tonight.
(Out of lurking) Levi - there's no hope. Too many on here have no self-restraint. (Back to lurking)
are you working for Exxon ?
If the system develops quickly, as it looks like it may, then it will have a hard time coming far enough west to affect the Caribbean or United States. The pattern remains a very dangerous one, with anomalous ridging over southeast Canada, but the models show a couple of transient troughs that progress through the pattern, and the storm would have to get by those. Chances are the models are too far north to begin with, but odds favor a recurve if the system jumps to a hurricane in a hurry. We'll know more once it develops and gets a little farther west.
And again though, the pattern remains very dangerous for storms that develop either slower or farther west, and the Caribbean and U.S. are very open to storms for the next few weeks.
Like 1421. Smarten up, son!
Maybe a politician will suggest cutting more funding from NOAA to fill the void.
In my area 110 miles from the center, They called for 30mph winds and 3 inches of rain. well with all the huge downed trees, I'm sure it was much more than that and we've had probably 7 inches of rain. I can't imagine to be going through what VT is going through right now.
While I agree, the tropics are ALWAYS forth going. There is always another system to track, one that could pose an even worse threat to land in the long range if the pattern permits. I am paying attention to what is going on in CT, heck I was born there. I lived up there for a long time. I was also in VA during Isabel, I was closely following Irene. Just because Irene hit doesn't mean there won't be more systems, and we track them. Heck, that's what most of us are here for.. following storms as they exist and praying for those effected by it.
944 AM EDT SUN AUG 28 2011
AT 8:42 AM EDT THIS MORNING THE TIDE LEVEL AT THE BATTERY REACHED
9.5 FEET MLLW. THIS IS THE SIXTH HIGHEST LEVEL EVER RECORDED AT THE
BATTERY. AT 9:06 AM A MAXIMUM SURGE OF 4.5 FEET OCCURRED WITH THIS
HIGH TIDE IN COMBINATION WITH THE ASTRONOMICAL TIDE.
OTHER NOTABLE LEVELS REACHED INCLUDE THE TOP TWO OF 11.2 FEET MLLW
AND 10.9 FEET MLLW WHICH OCCURRED DURING THE HURRICANE OF SEPTEMBER
1821 AND HURRICANE DONNA IN 1960 RESPECTIVELY...AND 9.6 FEET MLLW
DURING THE NOREASTER OF DECEMBER 1992
I think you mean millions.
yup its too soon too say wish will plan out
Thanks, and I hope you never leave this blog. You are truly one of a kind.
I think you're right.
YES PLEASE! There are several with level enough heads to not hit the "ban hammer" button due to emotions. That will keep this place clean of these vermin.
The obvious trolls are obvious.
Parents do allow children in automobiles, but we have seat belt laws, speed limits, traffic signs, road markers, airbags, and so on. I guess some would say these things are all overhyped, but it turns out they save lives and continue to do so. Be careful, because hindsight can distort your views. Like I stated before, had Irene not encountered dry air and shear, we'd be looking at even greater destruction. This factor does not make the current damage or need for emergency plan enactment any less important.
I think you're on to something...
+1000
Or you can just flag, ignore, and move on.
or can we this get back too the weather
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