INT: Bermuda Surpasses 100 MPH
UPDATE: There is a newer blog entry which talks further about the damage and what effect Gordon, the new tropical system, wil have on the Island.
Florence Slams Bermuda - Sept. 11, 2006 - Residents watch the high waves from Hurricane Florence crashing at The Causeway in Hamilton, Bermuda, Monday, Sept. 11, 2006. Florence blew out windows, peeled away the roofs of at least three houses and knocked out power to thousands before churning past the British island chain and heading out over the Atlantic Ocean. Four people lost their lives here during Hurricane Fabian in 2003. (AP Photo/ The Royal Gazette, David Skinner)
UPDATE NOON EASTERN (1PM AST): Florence was upgraded to a Category 2 storm with 90 mph sustained winds at 11 AM as it made its closest pass to the island. The graphs at the surface stations now show wind speed (which peaked around 10am) to be decreasing.
The Computer City street cam is showing tree branches in the streets of Hamilton, but occasional people or cars; It appears that power never went out in downtown Hamilton. The most evidence of the wind was how far the nearby tree was bent during peak winds compared to yesterday afternoon. Craig from Computer City says "Hamilton has been relatively calm compared to much of the Island, especially the west end and unprotected higher elevations. Still, there are a few smaller branches down here and there, and some construction materials have been blown away from building sites in Hamilton."
We have not heard from Mark since he lost power at around 9 a.m.
IS SHE HEADED FOR CANADA? Consult AccuWeather.com Canadian expert Brett Anderson (PREMIUM | PRO) for more information.
FINAL PEAK WIND GUSTS:
ST. DAVIDS, BERMUDA: 111 mph (9:40 AM Eastern)
COMMISSIONER'S POINT: 98 mph (8:40 AM Eastern)
FORT PROSPECT: 93 mph (11:50 AM Eastern)
BERMUDA AIRPORT: 90 mph (12:00 PM Eastern)
DEBRIS ON THE STREETS OF HAMILTON, BERMUDA THIS MORNING
FAST ANIMATION | SLOW ANIMATION | ARCHIVE
USED WITH PERMISSION FROM COMPUTER CITY
UPDATE:
LATEST WIND GUST FROM ST. DAVIDS: 111 mph (9:40 AM Eastern) - 82 mph Sustained
LATEST WIND GUST FROM COMMISSIONER'S POINT: 98 mph (8:40 AM Eastern)
UPDATE: At 9 AM, St. Davids is gusting to 96.8 knots (107 mph). The Bermuda radar stopped transmitting this morning shortly after 6 AM Eastern. Before it stopped, it showed winds in excess of 200 mph at height.* The Computer City street cam is showing tree branches in the streets of Hamilton.
Hurricane Florence is pounding the island of Bermuda this morning. At 6 AM, Commissioner's Point is gusting to 81 knots (91 mph). 4.13" of rain was reported as of 6 AM (this appeared to be an instantaneous rate (per hour?) from the graph, rather than an accumulated number). See screen captures of map and graph earlier this morning.
Radar shows that the northeastern eyewall (not as impressive as the northern eyewall, rainwise) is skimming the southwest side of the island at this time. The storm was not upgraded to a Category 2 as expected, in fact it has winds of only 80 mph sustained at this time. Mark's power is out but he uploaded a couple of videos overnight. Another blogger in Bermuda reports that "the plate glass windows along the east side of the office are flexing alarmingly." Reports from the StormCarib Blog indicated "freight train" winds.
The U.S. National Weather Service is forecasting wave heights to 12 feet on the Outer Banks of North Carolina tonight and has issued a high risk for deadly rip currents for the Eastern Seaboard. The Pro site's WaveWatch III sea forecast model shows the 12 footers off the coast of Carolina and also waves exceeding 27 feet near the center of Hurricane Florence. A buoy between Cape Hatteras and Bermuda is already reporting the 12-footers (archived graph).
Links to cameras, radars, satellites, and observations from Bermuda are available in yesterday's blog entry.
Meanwhile, Tropical Depression #7 has formed out in the Atlantic and is forecast to pass Bermuda to the east this weekend. For more information on the track of both storms, see the AccuWeather.com Hurricane Center (PREMIUM | PRO)
FLORENCE AND TD #7
*The interpreted velocity radar data of 140-185 knots is at serious odds with NHC estimates that the max flight-level winds are between 73 and 86 knots, so the radar readings are probably inaccurate. Note that the explanation of the PPI/HWIND product image says that algorithms are used to come up with the wind barbs which I am reading, so I would recommend taking this data with a grain of salt. However, the fact that the surface station at St. Davids is reporting 82 mph sustained winds and NHC is claiming the storm has 80 mph sustained winds is suspicious to me -- it's extremely rare to get surface verification of their estimates and often they are much above surface recordings, as we've discussed before. Of course, if there's any place to do it, Bermuda would be a good one because there are no surface obstructions as the hurricane approaches the island. I believe NHC may be underestimating this one, but not to the extent that the radar data shows.
Before it went down, at 09:58Z, it reported consistent winds over 150 kt (173 mph), as high as 185 kt (213 mph), at 75 km (50 mi) out from the center on the scope. Remember, the radar beam goes up as it goes out; at that height, the radar beam, which is at a 0.5 degree elevation, should be at about 6,000 feet (? - based on this info). Near the center, where the beam would be closer to ground truth, it didn't report much more than 95 knot winds, though there was one report of 140 knot winds (161 mph) about 40 km (25 mi.) which would be about 3,000 feet. Check my math there. I need to check with the Bermuda Weather Service to see if I can post this radar image before I show it to you.
