Tropical Storm Noel hits Cuba, draws closer to Florida

Tropical Storm Noel hits Cuba, draws closer to Florida

www.latimes.com

Officials in the neighboring Dominican Republic, meanwhile, revised the death toll downward to 16. The National Emergency Commission reported Monday that at least 20 had died in the storm, but today, agency spokesman Luis Luna Paulino said they had miscalculated in issuing the earlier figure.

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[edit on 30-10-2007 by anhinga]

Looks like a rough one, out of nowhere. Some deaths already on the islands -- be safe, people of Florida!

www.latimes.com
(visit the link for the full news article)




[edit on 30-10-2007 by anhinga]

Keep an eye on what happens. Read my signature. I hope it dies out.

This storm is driving forecasters nuts, it's supposed to "brush" past south florida in this dramatic northeast turn, yet as of now the system is moving west over Cuba. no warnings or watches for so fla as of now but if it going to continue west and then make that turn to the NE it may be closer to florida than currently predicted. Either way it's only a tropical storm so we're not worried about the wind damage and as for the rain, we could always use it.

right now winds are gusting outside outside, sustained in the 20mph range gusting to the upper 30mph range and that's not directly due to Noel but to being caught between a high and low.

reply to post by depth om


I believe that. How close is that dike to the ocean? Do you know offhand, my connection is pretty slow here....

...also, yeah, this seemed to come out of nowhere, usually they start around African coast(s) and move slowly towards Americas -- this, killed a lot of people on the islands. Miami better beware. Should that dike be near the city, whew, some awful times for that hood -- let alone the end of the hurricane season.

reply to post by anhinga


This isn't the first time that a tropical system has developed in the Gulf of Mexico or the Carribean Sea before. The ones that start off of the African coast are pretty much over at this time of the year anyway. Miami should be careful yes, but this is only a tropical storm, and surely we all know who have experienced these storms, that a tropical storm is definitely not the cause of concern that a hurricane is.

reply to post by worldwatcher



Yes, tropical storms are very hard to predict. I know we have problems here at work with predicting our tropical cyclone paths. No matter how many models are used, they never seem to go to plan

reply to post by OzWeatherman


you mean those spaghetti strings that go every which way
Yeah the models have been all over the place with this storm, but so far the consensus is still calling for that Northeast turn and the NHC seems to believe that, so that's what we're all going with... until the next update

The forecasters here in eastern Canada are saying this storm should pass here on Saturday or Sunday. No hurricane but lots of wind and rain.

reply to post by worldwatcher


Haha, yeah one of them. There are so many different models though for wind speed at different pressure levels, cyclogenesis (for the southern hemisphere). rainfall predictions, tracking models......aaaghhhh

reply to post by anhinga


Roughly 100 miles I'd say.

When the hurricane roared ashore at Palm Beach September 16, 1928, many coastal residents were prepared. But inland, along Lake Okeechobee, few conceived the disaster that was brewing. The storm struck first in Puerto Rico, killing 1,000 people, then hit Florida with 125 mph winds. Forty miles west of the coast, rain filled Lake Okeechobee to the brim and the dikes crumbled. Water rushed onto the swampy farmland, and homes and people were swept away. Almost 2,000 people perished.

Some say im paranoid, but I don't care. This may or may not happen but if it does...

No, I hear you and 100 miles isn't that far inland. Probably by the next hurricane season that dike is ruined. Are a lot of people in harm's way? I gotta look into that a little more -- I remember the name, I think it is a really populated area, looking at another Katrina of sorts, no, not paranoid IMO.

UPDATE

Just saw a headline, "Death toll reaches 38 as Tropical Storm Noel rages across Caribbean" afp.google.com...

Also, seems like an understatement to call this a TS -- is there any conspiracy in that? The measuring of TS to hurricane? Must be:

False safety. Wrongly defining a storm would leave many ill prepared. We shall wait and see. I'm on the east coast below Daytona, so I'm watching this one for sure.

reply to post by worldwatcher


Being in Florida as well and having dealt with Hurricanes Jeanne, Frances, and Wilma, I figure that a tropical storm is the least of our worries. Rain is always good. It did however go from being perfectly sunny to pouring down rain seven different times today in PBC. Gotta love Florida weather.

Well, keep us updated on the storm Floridians. Also, be safe -- from the satellite images and almost 40 deaths on the islands, people should be careful. Seems like an underreported TS.

well I'm going to bed with the idea that tomorrow will be nasty, winds and rain, but no direct impact, nor the heaviest rains from Noel affecting south florida.... that's according to all the meteorologists. Hope there's no Halloween tricks and I wake up to a different forecast.

This was just posted on CNN less then an hour ago:
www.cnn.com...

As of 5 a.m. ET, Noel's center was about 50 miles (85 km) north-northwest of Camaguey, Cuba, and about 205 miles (335 km) south-southwest of Nassau, Bahamas, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami Florida.

A good tropical storm or hurricane would benefit north Fla. and Georgia. That's exactly what we need to raise our water level. I live on the south Ga. coast and the lack of these storms has caused a water shortage.

I wish no one ill will or damage but people and wildlife would benefit greatly from the rains the storm would bring.

As soon as my morning caffine kicks in I am going outside and do a rain dance. Also going to pray the storm misses south Fla. and takes a turn north west at the GA-Fla state line.

Come on storm, we need your water.

Good point.

A little bit of Rain isnt the worst thing that can happen to the South-eatern US right now...

Just hoping that it stays a TS, and brings the much needed rain to the area.

Now, from the looks of that satellite photo I posted this morning, I doubt FL will get any of this. This is what we talked about last night, how odd the storm is, probably going to follow some of those models the weatherpeople talk about -- which is the direction it sort of appears to be going in the photo - NE.