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Originally posted by PHF2ATL
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Yeah, but by the time it gets to you, it won't be a tropical storm anymore!
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TAMPA, Fla. - While Tropical Storm Bonnie was petering out Thursday as it made landfall along Florida's Panhandle, 380,000 Tampa Bay-area residents were urged to evacuate from coastal or low-lying areas because of Hurricane Charley.
Charley, whose sustained winds strengthened to 90 mph Thursday morning, was predicted to make landfall early Friday. It was expected to reach speeds of 100 to 115 mph, with storm surges of greater than 10 feet along the southwest coast of Florida.
The southwest coast has not faced a hurricane that powerful in half a century, Ed Rappaport of the National Hurricane Center told MSNBC.
The evacuation warning was the largest in the history of Pinellas County, which includes Tampa as well as St. Petersburg.
Pinellas County commissioners unanimously approved the evacuation order, which was recommended by county emergency management officials. It was to take effect at 6 p.m. ET Thursday. A similar order was issued for low-lying areas of neighboring Manatee County.
“I’m pretty comfortable that this is the prudent way to go,” Gary Vickers of Pinellas County Emergency Management said. Residents who refuse to evacuate would not be arrested or forcibly removed, he said.Comment
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WN is tentatively planning to pull planes out of TPA by around 11:00 tomorrow (fri) morning.
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Any news on the Orlando area?Comment
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Just alot of rain for MCO, no evacuations planned. The storm is forecast to go almost due north from Tampa.Originally posted by Airbus_A320Comment
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The forecast is for rain.Originally posted by Airbus_A320
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here it comes....
forecasts here in Miami aren't as bad as up the gulf coast. Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach are under Flood Watch...north of P.B. there's a Tropical Storm and Tornado Watch...and of course..on pretty much all the gulf coast the Hurricane Warning is now in effect. Orlando is on a Hurricane Warning
Here's a peak of the first rain bands of Charlie on the radar:
Also, National Hurricane Center has a preddiction that Charlie will become CATREGORY 3 for tomorrow.
Good Luck everyone on the Gulf Coast and the Lower Keys.Comment
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Ok the weather channel put something out...Comment
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Lot's of thunder and lightning here now!!!
It was clear all day! My brother even went to the beach!
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have fun guys?
How does an airline thats going bankrupt sign new regional carriers, launch a discount airline, purchase new planes, AND repaint their fleet? I dunno, ask United.
Fly1346 wrote: we have a SXM rite here at LGA!!! All you got to do is add the topless chicks
My Pics on J.netComment
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If it strengthens as predicted it will hit Tampa as a Category 3 storm...with the surge predicted to put most of downtown Tampa underwater!! They say MacDill AFB will be submerged, and Pinellas county an island...
Jeesh.
Fla. Warns 1 Million to Flee Hurricane
By MITCH STACY, Associated Press Writer
TAMPA, Fla. - Officials warned about a million residents and tourists Thursday to get out of the way of Hurricane Charley, saying parts of Tampa's downtown and nearby areas could be submerged by the massive storm surge likely when the hurricane strikes Florida's central gulf coast on Friday.
"It does have the potential of devastating impact. ... This is a scary, scary thing," Gov. Jeb Bush said.
The evacuation zone stretched along Florida's west coast from Key West to north of Tampa.
Charlie was expected to pass west of the Keys at Florida's tip early Friday before hitting the Tampa Bay area in the afternoon with winds up to 110 mph, heavy rain, sporadic tornadoes and the dangerous storm surge, said Hugh Cobb, a meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center (news - web sites) in Miami. With winds that high, it would be a powerful Category 3 hurricane.
Residents of the Tampa Bay area, where the eye is projected to hit, south to the Naples area were told to expect a storm surge of 10-13 feet. State meteorologist Ben Nelson said the surge could reach 16 feet in the Tampa area if Charley hits at 120 mph.
The bulk of the evacuations were in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, which include Tampa and St. Petersburg, a city that sits on a peninsula.
All residents of MacDill Air Force Base, on another peninsula in Tampa Bay, were ordered out, with only essential personnel remaining. MacDill is home to U.S. Central Command, the nerve center of the war in Iraq (news - web sites).
"MacDill Air Force Base will probably be mostly underwater and parts of downtown Tampa could be underwater if we have a Category 3," Nelson said. "In a Category 3, you can almost get to the point where Pinellas County becomes an island."
Heavy traffic flowed across the three Tampa Bay bridges linking Pinellas with Hillsborough and the mainland
"There will be a period of time where if you stay behind and you change your mind and you want to be rescued, no one can help you. We aren't going to go out on a suicide mission," Pinellas Emergency Management Chief Gary Vickers told people in the evacuation zone.
The hurricane bore down after Tropical Storm Bonnie blew ashore Thursday morning on the Florida Panhandle with winds estimated near 50 mph. Bonnie failed to produce any reported flooding, but the one-two punch of tropical weather was highly unusual. Storms have not struck so close together in Florida since 1906.
About 6.5 million of Florida's 17 million residents were in Charley's projected path, the U.S. Census Bureau (news - web sites) reported.
The evacuation request was Florida's biggest since 1999, when Hurricane Floyd brushed the state's east coast and prompted officials to urge a record 1.3 million to evacuate.
Many residents prepared for the worst, buying plywood to board up homes and stocking up on water, canned food and batteries to ride out the hurricane. Beth Ciombor of Sarasota was at a Home Depot loading two sheets of plywood onto the top of her minivan while her 2-year-old son watched.
"I'm on the verge of tears. It's so frightening," she said.
Charley became a Caribbean hurricane Wednesday, moving past Jamaica and over the Cayman Islands. At 8 p.m. EDT, it was over the Isle of Youth off southern Cuba on its way to Florida.
Forecasters said Charley had top sustained winds of about 105 mph, up from 90 mph earlier Thursday. It was moving north-northwest near 17 mph and was expected to strengthen, meteorologists said.
Hurricane force winds extended outward 30 miles from the eye; tropical storm force winds went out 125 miles.
A hurricane warning was issued for the Keys from the Dry Tortugas to the Seven Mile Bridge and along southwestern Florida from the southern tip of the mainland to Bayport, 52 miles north of the St. Petersburg area; a watch was issued from north of Bayport to the Suwannee River; and a tropical storm warning was issued for the middle and upper Keys and Florida Bay. A tropical storm watch was in effect on the Atlantic coast for Jupiter Inlet near West Palm Beach up north to Altamaha Sound on the central Georgia coast.
In the Keys, a steady line of traffic, marked by sport utility vehicles pulling boats on trailers, drove north along U.S. 1 on Thursday as visitors and mobile home residents followed orders to evacuate the entire 100-mile-long island chain.
Al Perkins, 55, a small business owner in Key West, placed office computers and a photocopier in garbage bags while a colleague hammered metal hurricane shutters over windows.
"If it gets over 150 miles per hour winds, I'm outta here. Anything less than that, I've already been in, so it's not a problem," he said.
Key West International Airport closed Thursday in anticipation of Charley, and St. Petersburg/Clearwater International Airport was closing after the last flight Thursday night. Operations at Tampa International Airport and at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport were continuing into Friday.
Amtrak suspended train service between New York City and Miami for Friday. Amtrak's Auto Train that operates between Lorton, Va. and Sanford, Fla., was also canceled Friday. Service between Boston, Washington, D.C., and Newport News, Va. was not affected.
Bonnie chugged ashore Thursday morning, bringing rain and wind up to 50 mph. But by midday, the sun was shining in Apalachicola, flags were limp and the surf was calming after a couple of hours of steady rain. By late afternoon Bonnie was downgraded to a tropical depression as it headed into Georgia.
Bonnie and Charley are the second and third named storms of the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.
Associated Press Writers David Royse in Apalachicola, Ken Thomas in Key West, Vickie Chachere in Sarasota and Adrian Sainz and John Pain in Miami contributed to this report.Comment
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Heh.... i just read that article on yahoo! Would be intresting to go take a look at TPA after the damage.Comment
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Make sure you take a boat.Originally posted by Airbus_A320
I think the main problem is that it is aiming directly up Tampa Bay, and the arrival is in conjunction with high tide...all that water it's pushing has to go somewhere.
Going to be ugly methinks.
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MacDill and Albert Whitted airport don't stand a chance. St. pete's runways will be flooded too. TPA should be ok. Wind damage might be a problem.
One more thing ....Friday the 13th
Try to catch me flyin dirty...Comment
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Metar from Key West...
KEYW 131234Z AUTO 15033G44KT 5SM -RA BR BKN020 BKN029 OVC090 27/25 A2984 RMK AO2 PK WND 15047/1215 RAB20 P0000
and a TAF
KEYW 131137Z 131212 16030G45KT 4SM RA BKN030 BKN100
TEMPO 1216 15045G60KT 1/4SM +SHRA BKN008
FM1800 20020G30KT 6SM RA SCT030 BKN100
PROB30 2103 1SM +TSRA BKN008CB
FM0300 23012KT P6SM SCT030 BKN100
How bout a lil flight outta TPA at around midnight
TEMPO 0004 12045G65KT 1/2SM +TSRA BKN010CB
FM0400 VRB65G95KT 1/2SM +TSRA BKN010CBTry to catch me flyin dirty...Comment
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