The National Hurricane Center
It has been a quiet summer hurricane season so far. But as folks that have lived in Miami for a while know you only need one direct hit to screw stuff up. Hurricane Andrew in 1992 was a real game changer for me. In the past the Hurricane Center Director was a rock star of sorts. Neil Frank, Bob Sheets and Max Mayfield explained what would be happening and when should you start putting up your shutters. If you already had them.
I've noticed a subtle change about the coverage of hurricanes and weather in general on the tube these days. The weather has moved up in the amount of coverage it receives in national news and in the local news as well. A significant amount of money is invested in weather coverage down here.
Miami and daily thunderstorms during the rainy season and beautiful weather from late fall through spring is hardly newsworthy but it is reported on early in each newscast.
During hurricane prime time tropical waves, depressions, storms, and hurricanes probably get more coverage than they deserve most of the time in Miami. Danny was a washout, Erika, not far behind may still be a near miss, but any potential storm to the south and east of Miami should get folk's attention down here.
Wednesday night the grocery store parking lot was pretty full and folks were buying stuff. Saturday evening the corner gas station had no gasoline and the bottled water aisle at Winn Dixie was being restocked. I can only guess how much cash has been withdrawn from the bank in anticipating power outages.
And this is for a storm that never even made it to being a category 1 storm (so far). And by the Saturday 11:00 am advisory there was no circulation and the forecast changed to the possibility of flooding rains through Tuesday.
This near miss was like a full scale dress rehearsal for those with a house to protect and a family to feed. On the plus side the schools won't miss a beat, although I won't miss driving to school on Monday.
I think there is a parable somewhere here. If you got sucked into the coverage this week you were probably a little bit crazy by Friday and are probably looking forward to a nap this afternoon after a busy weekend.
I've noticed a subtle change about the coverage of hurricanes and weather in general on the tube these days. The weather has moved up in the amount of coverage it receives in national news and in the local news as well. A significant amount of money is invested in weather coverage down here.
Miami and daily thunderstorms during the rainy season and beautiful weather from late fall through spring is hardly newsworthy but it is reported on early in each newscast.
During hurricane prime time tropical waves, depressions, storms, and hurricanes probably get more coverage than they deserve most of the time in Miami. Danny was a washout, Erika, not far behind may still be a near miss, but any potential storm to the south and east of Miami should get folk's attention down here.
Wednesday night the grocery store parking lot was pretty full and folks were buying stuff. Saturday evening the corner gas station had no gasoline and the bottled water aisle at Winn Dixie was being restocked. I can only guess how much cash has been withdrawn from the bank in anticipating power outages.
And this is for a storm that never even made it to being a category 1 storm (so far). And by the Saturday 11:00 am advisory there was no circulation and the forecast changed to the possibility of flooding rains through Tuesday.
This near miss was like a full scale dress rehearsal for those with a house to protect and a family to feed. On the plus side the schools won't miss a beat, although I won't miss driving to school on Monday.
I think there is a parable somewhere here. If you got sucked into the coverage this week you were probably a little bit crazy by Friday and are probably looking forward to a nap this afternoon after a busy weekend.
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