Hurricanes Coming Ashore (Minimum Alfa Content)

[MEHemsley@xxxxxxx]

The somewhat famous...or infamous?...Jack Hagerty of ARA fame asks about my
comment that Hurricane Georges "came ashore" east of us in Bay St. Louis, MS.
Jack, I am honored for the oppportunity to talk about an aspect of my job.
The reason I am in Bay St. Louis, in addition to trying to keep one Alfa
visible on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, is because I work for the National Data
Buoy Center, a part of the National Weather Service.  We acquire marine data
used by forecasters for their warnings and forecasts.  All that is to
establish my minimal credibility concerning hurricanes.

Hurricanes like Georges and Bonnie this year are huge and impact large areas.
In Georges, my son had tropical storm force winds, and he lives 200 miles from
the Coast.  When we talk about the storm coming ashore, we are really talking
about the eye of the storm (the center of circulation)...where the winds are
most severe and atmospheric pressures are lowest.  That is where the most
damage is done.  It is like the epicenter of the earthquakes you guys
experience...the damage is wide spread, but the max force is generalized as a
point.  So, when you hear that the storm has come ashore at some location, it
means that is where the center of the eye hit land.  The eye in Georges was
30-40 miles in diameter, so even that is a generalization...but it does give a
point of reference.

Hope this explaination wasn't too boring.

Ciao,

Mike from Mississippi

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