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The weather in the USA...

Tallahassee is 30 miles inland from projected landfall in the "big bend" area.
A lot of big, very old homes surrounded by giant granddaddy oak trees. If Cat 4 winds reach that far inland, it could be an all time level of disaster. A mess. They could be stuck in place for a couple of weeks, cleaning their way out of that mess, clearing the roads, removing massive amounts of tree debris,restoring power, etc.
On the Space Coast, could have Cat1 gusts (75MPH), but more likely 45MPH Tropical Storm winds.... and a lotta lotta rain!
 
As we're discussing this in the climate change thread...as was predicted years ago...


You should also post this in the "Is it too late?" thread... because, frankly, maybe it is.... Global warming has & will continue to wreak living hell on earth until we DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT ..... 😢
 
You should also post this in the "Is it too late?" thread... because, frankly, maybe it is.... Global warming has & will continue to wreak living hell on earth until we DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT ..... 😢
I started teaching about climate change, or global warming as it was then called, in 1983 and well remember taking students through the, then predicted, basic atmospheric physics and consequences of warmer air and the likely impact on severity of cyclones.
 
Have to admit that combining the real-time media analysis and twitter output of satellite imagery of Helene's development last night was grimly compulsive. The ability to see how the number of mesoscale vortices within the eye-wall decline and pull the wall into a more coherent, tighter core was fascinating. I read today that some of the 'vortical hot towers' or unstable convective cells in Helene's eye wall punched up into the Stratosphere to a height of 63,000 feet. :eek: The real-time explosion of lightening strike analysis of the northern, leading eye wall section was also very interesting and used by the meteorologists to predict the strengthening to Cat. 4.
 
On my way in to work yesterday, I had on some random radio station. They were talking about the mess left in the area and the devastation in the north of the state. One of the things they said (and resonated for a while) was that someone was on the highway in Tampa and a freeway road sign fell. The car happened to have been at the wrong place at the wrong time because when the sign fell, it fell on the car. Killed a person in the car (radio said it was the driver, but there are some conflicting reports on Google saying it was a passenger but others say the driver). More reason that when they say "stay off the roads", maybe people should stay off the roads. There was even a point where news was reporting emergency services weren't going to go out in the flood water to save people. They can't risk themselves to be able to save another. It's too risky for even them, as the wind was bad too.

Fort Myers Beach got flooded out again, as did parts of Sanibel and Captiva. Most of the local bridges were closed even yesterday due to standing water. It was bad for the beach, but it wasn't category 4 bad that the northern part of the state got (I don't think there was loss of life here, just loss of buildings). Although it got to the point a swamp boat was tugging police around on their own little boat, to check on people who made calls... there was that much water in the middle of the road.
 
I believe it... seeing all the reports about the horrific flooding. It's so awful and awe inducing at the same time. We don't expect that kind of destruction to happen, but we don't learn from it when it comes through the areas and decimates cities. Those towns on the coast lines of the country keep getting one bad flood after another. Y

et what happens during cleanup? We build up and out and more. Almost as if it will stop the rising tides year after year. No one learns; every major event that comes through Southwest Florida since I've lived here, people keep rebuilding and struggle to maintain that rebuild. Part of the problem is the simple fact too many people are moving to the area from out of state so the upkeep of creating more homes and taking over the land too quickly is what is helping the water gain access to other parts of the terrain. I've seen communities started and not finished for months, if not years, because there's an abundance of growth in another area of the city.

I'm trying to get out of this area. I've seen enough of the water. I'm tired of being scared of risking my life because this isn't the "paradise" people talk about.
 
I believe it... seeing all the reports about the horrific flooding. It's so awful and awe inducing at the same time. We don't expect that kind of destruction to happen, but we don't learn from it when it comes through the areas and decimates cities. Those towns on the coast lines of the country keep getting one bad flood after another. Y

et what happens during cleanup? We build up and out and more. Almost as if it will stop the rising tides year after year. No one learns; every major event that comes through Southwest Florida since I've lived here, people keep rebuilding and struggle to maintain that rebuild. Part of the problem is the simple fact too many people are moving to the area from out of state so the upkeep of creating more homes and taking over the land too quickly is what is helping the water gain access to other parts of the terrain. I've seen communities started and not finished for months, if not years, because there's an abundance of growth in another area of the city.

I'm trying to get out of this area. I've seen enough of the water. I'm tired of being scared of risking my life because this isn't the "paradise" people talk about.
When I visited you that time people (snowbirds) moved there for the climate or were there just in summer. Is that still a thing? The weather just seems to be getting worse and worse
 
When I visited you that time people (snowbirds) moved there for the climate or were there just in summer. Is that still a thing? The weather just seems to be getting worse and worse
People relocating to Florida from northern states have, and always will, be a thing. There is a difference between the relocation people being permanent and being here just for the winter months. The wintering people are snowbirds because they're here for a limited amount of time and go back to where they came from when winter is over.

In the winter months, snowbirds escape the colder [snow] areas of the country (it usually starts to trickle with people in the fall - around the last week of October [Halloween], but majority are here by the second week of November, and everyone is definitely here by early December). It sometimes depends on when the first snow starts in that person's area, but most people like to be here to watch the kids go Trick or Treating. If they are here by that point, they do go back home during the weeks of Thanksgiving and Christmas to be with northern family (or they stay up for the month once they get there for Thanksgiving), and then fly back to Florida after the holidays. Once spring arrives (whenever Easter falls - that's the not talked about cut off of the length of stay for them), they go home. They are certainly home by May 1, as it gets ungodly hot here in the summer, and the thunder storms are horrible (as you might recall, Froggy). Add the uncertainty of hurricanes, and you got yourself a mix of crazy. Whoever is left in the summer are the full time residents.

The total amount of time snowbirds spend in Florida spans about 6 months, give or take a few days. However, in order to get "resident" "perks", the laws put forth by the state government say you must be living here six months and one day in order to gain certain housing and other benefits claims.

Those in the north who are completely sick of their weather patterns move to Florida for the sun all year round because they don't want to deal with whatever they have (snow is a big one, but earth quakes and wild fires from the Western part of the country - California, etc. also shift people here. Lately the conversations have been about cost of living too. "It's cheaper in Florida" which is why there's been a hurried build up of communities. Yet, the pay is low for jobs and due to tourist and snowbird season in the winter, working in the summer months are part time. As in, 28 hours a week could be your max, which means no work benefits like insurance. In the winter time, you certainly could work over 32 hours and definitely over 40 hours a week. But if your status is still part time, no benefits. You have to be full time to gain extra stuff. Most businesses state they hire full time for winter and fire majority of their staff for summer. Those who stay on are part time. You are lucky if you maintain full time [32 hours plus] status).

The coldest it gets in my area in the dead of winter is 45°F, and that's just for a day or two. It's not often and it's not a "chilled to the bones" cold, although the longer you stay here, the more your blood thins out because you're not accustomed to the cold anymore, so it will feel cold and some people will put on winter clothes like fluffy down jackets, hats, mittens, etc. It's funny to see, but it's something people do. I mean, it's cold, but it's not icey feeling because you don't have the freezing / snow part of it. Again, it depends on how quickly your blood thins out. Only a few times has it reached 45, otherwise it can be around 50-60°F at the lowest point. Winters here are usually around 70-75 with no humidity, so it's comfortable. Winter months have no humidity, just sun and pleasant warmth. Late spring is when the humidity starts and summer it's brutal, fall it peters off. Although right now it's still hitting 95° with humidity, as it's been doing lately.

But the past few years, due to hurricane seasons, the flooding is scary. In the north, you can watch snow arrive, start and stop. You know when to go out and shovel. You can't do that during a hurricane. If you don't have shutters up during a storm, you can watch the flood waters rise and fall and sometimes come up to your house, if it doesn't come straight knocking on your door and come inside. I work with a woman who had water in her house (very minimal) this past week due to Helene. She's still fixing her house from Ian (like a lot of people are). You can only prepare so much for a hurricane and flooding, but you can't do anything to stop it, which is what harms a lot of people - they can lose their houses or their lives if they are stupid about it.
 
my ex-inlaws are from western NC and i've been in swannanoa and frog level and all around there. a workmate retired and moved to asheville and i've been in touch with him and it's every bit as bad as reported, he's sharing food and drink with neighbors whose houses are wrecked etc. (his own house in on higher ground).

if you wish to keep up
 
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