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Cat 4 claims bogus, it was Cat 2 and dropped to a tropical storm as soon as it made landfall. Gusts don't count, sustained wind-speed does.
Before landfall (9 PM PDT, Fig 1.0), a nice hurricane structure is apparent, with some winds getting to 90 knots in the eyewall. But then as the storm makes landfall (1 AM PDT Fig 2.0), you can see a profound weakening of winds over land. And by 5 AM PDT (Fig 3.0), with the storm completely over land, the fastest winds are gone. So even if the storm had category four sustained winds near the surface while it is offshore, the sustained winds decline precipitously when the store goes onshore.
But here is the issue. What were the maximum sustained winds that occurred last night as Laura made landfall? Looking at all available stations, the highest sustained wind was 98 mph at Lake Charles Airport. The map below shows the sustained winds at 1 AM, when the storm was just moving inland (wind barbs show sustained winds, with gusts in red). The blue arrow indicates Lake Charles Airport. Looking at the sustained winds, one would conclude that Laura was only a weak category two hurricane (96-110 mph). And then there are gusts. Gusts are not used as part of the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale, but, let’s face it, gusts are very important. The big damage in most storms are done by the gusts. |
2018 North Carolina Three days away, a Category two storm prompted the Washington Post to declare this hurricane was Trump's fault. Maybe if it actually hits land we can talk. Until then here's a chart of Hurricanes that hit North Carolina. It would be easier to assert he keeps them away. |
2017 - Tropical storm Harvey 1) Hurricane Harvey was downgraded to a tropical storm as soon as it hit land. If "climate change" is making storms worse how come hurricanes stopped right after they first said that? Did "climate change" stop, or were they wrong? Or is there some third option that's not obvious?
Texas Hurricanes
"Chronological List of All Hurricanes which Affected the Continental United States: 1851-2012". Hurricane Research Division (2012), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration After category 5 hurricane Katrina hit the US in 2005 it was one of the few hurricanes that hit that decade; the period 1984 to 1998 was the time of maximal hurricane activity, with many states getting more than one a year, but after the El Nino peak in 1998 they all but stopped for years, and when they resumed 5-10 years later they still only happened every few years in each state, not every year or two or more per years. This is not worse or more extreme, it didn't even manage to maintain hurricane status once its hit land, it's just a storm. After Katrina, just to keep up the idea hurricanes were worse not, you'd need 10 years of cat five hurricanes a year to establish a new "normal". To show it's worse that 12 years ago when Katrina hit you'd need two Cat 5 hurricanes a year for a decade. One storm that's upgraded briefly to a hurricane but loses all its energy when it hits land and is downgraded from a hurricane does not count, it's not even close. While I have empathy with those suffering at the moment I question whether selling them buildings on a flood plain was ethical. |
2012: If global warming makes these worse why have they all but stopped? If there's anything in this data at all, it looks like CO2 is preventing more hurricanes from making landfall in the US. After hurricane Katrina in 2005 the claim was made "global warming is making weather worse" - and then no hurricane made landfall in Florida for over a decade.
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