Hurricane Irma is coming up Florida now and wracking havoc along the way. We are likely going to avoid any damage and strong weather and may just see some rain and mild wind. We are lucky but our hearts go out to all of those in the way of this storm and the hundreds or thousands of people that have lost property in this storm.
Damage in Rockport TX from Hurricane Harvey
It has been a crazy hurricane season. With Harvey just coming through the Gulf of Mexico and up into Corpus Christi, Houston and most counties from the tip of Texas into Louisiana, the last thing the area needed was another hurricane. But there was Irma, forming way our east and even formed before Harvey even made landfall in Texas. So a week or so later and Irma is tracking almost due West. There was a slight northern angle but not much. The forecasts kept saying she would turn right (North) and go up the East coast of Florida, the problem was I didn’t see anything in the 500mb forecasts that would indicate that was going to be the case. I feared that the High-pressure systems over the US would push the hurricane a bit further south and delay the turn north.
I watched with intent each day. It is going to hit between Miami and Fort Lauderdale, the next day it was going to hit Miami, the next day it was south of Miami, the next day it was near Key Largo, the next day Marathon, then it was showing to be coming over Key West.
Each shift made me more and more nervous. If this thing hit the warm water of the gulf I was worried about what it would do, mainly gain speed and strength fueled by the warm water and air of the Gulf of Mexico.
Lucky for us the high-pressure system also brought a good cold front with it and it seemed to be an invisible wall that kept the hurricane right along the West Coast of Florida.
The damage has been insane. Many have lost homes, boats and everything they own. St. Marteen is demolished, as is Tortola, Jost Van Dyke, Turks and Caicos, Part of Cuba, Key West and the rest of the keys as well as hundreds of thousands of people with damage and no power in Florida.
Just as people are starting to figure out what the heck they are going to do to rebuild their lives, here comes Jose. A week ago, Jose was forming behind Irma and heading North West and aiming straight to the Atlantic with nothing in it’s path. Then someone rang the bell and this Jose did a dosie-doe and is heading right toward Florida and the East Coast. It is so rare to see a track like this one.
Hurricane Hole where Charter boats were stored on Tortola in the British Virgin Islands
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