70 years ago today the bomb went off

[Jim Cantore]

anybody heard of this storm?

Of course you have




Poll question is opinion not trivia

[Brent]

I would say yes...

[no advance]

Baby compared to Katrina.

[LAwxrgal]

I was watching a Weather Channel documentary on this storm. This sounds like a stronger version of Charley -- a storm that rapidly intensified before the storm surge and other aspects began to set in. I heard the storm surge was about fifteen feet, but the wind damage devastated the Florida Keys.

[Jim Cantore]

1 to 5 in 36 hours

holy Camille

[Brent]

Baby compared to Katrina.

Maybe in terms of size and death, but it was stronger than Katrina... 892 mb.

[LAwxrgal]

Baby compared to Katrina.

Maybe in terms of size and death, but it was stronger than Katrina... 892 mb.

If I'm not mistaken that was measured by a private citizen's home thermometer. Whatever weather instruments they had back then failed. It's quite possible the pressure was lower than that.

[Ola]

Baby compared to Katrina.

Maybe in terms of size and death, but it was stronger than Katrina... 892 mb.

If I'm not mistaken that was measured by a private citizen's home thermometer. Whatever weather instruments they had back then failed. It's quite possible the pressure was lower than that.

Or higher.

[Jim Cantore]

lower higher doesnt matter it was strong enough to send a train airborne

thats one powerful storm no matter what the pressure was

[WeatherEmperor]

lower higher doesnt matter it was strong enough to send a train airborne

thats one powerful storm no matter what the pressure was

agreed.

<RICKY>

[Jim Cantore]

The storm was a mini Andrew (you'll almost never hear that)

tight but extremely powerful windfield

the core of the storm was like the apcolypse

[clfenwi]

Baby compared to Katrina.

Maybe in terms of size and death, but it was stronger than Katrina... 892 mb.

If I'm not mistaken that was measured by a private citizen's home thermometer. Whatever weather instruments they had back then failed. It's quite possible the pressure was lower than that.

Or higher.

For those interested, here are the barometer readings along the keys: http://www.keyshistory.org/35-hurr-war-dept.html

The pertinent section for the lowest recorded pressure:

Low barometer reading at Craig, Milepost 451, the storm center as it passed over the keys, September 2, 1935, 8:20 to 9:25 p.m., 26.40 inches: Observers, Capt. Ivar Olsen, R. W. Craig and R. C. Jackson. This barometer was located by employees of this office and Capt. Olsen, the owner, agreed to turn it over to us for calibration. It was turned over to the Miami Weather Bureau for test readings. The Miami Weather Bureau corrected the reading to 26.38 inches, then sent it to the Weather Bureau at Washington, for further test. The Weather Bureau at Washington found the corrected reading to be 26.35 inches. As these men were exposed and in the open, no recording were made of readings, but the low point reached by the barometer pointer was marked on the barometer case.

[HurricaneBill]

I've heard two stories on how the 892 mb reading was recorded.

1. A weather observer climbed up a tree to get away from the surge and he happened to have a barometer with him and observed the pressure.

2. A crew took refuge on a boat that was in a harbor and observed the pressure using the barometer in the boat. The needle kept dipping lower than the lowest point marked on the barometer, so one of the men kept marking the lowest point the needle went.

I don't know if either of these are true.

[M_0331]

I thought many more were killed with the train full of CCC Workers that
was blown over. Many MIA's or washed out to sea. My Granddaddy used to say
that many bodies washed onshore from FL to N.C.

<Eddie>

[abajan]

lower higher doesnt matter it was strong enough to send a train airborne

thats one powerful storm no matter what the pressure was

Of course, we must also consider the possibility that the train may have been loaded with helium.

[Jim Cantore]

lower higher doesnt matter it was strong enough to send a train airborne

thats one powerful storm no matter what the pressure was

Of course, we must also consider the possibility that the train may have been loaded with helium.

I highly doubt that

[WeatherEmperor]

lucky that none of us here were alive when that monster made landfall.

<RICKY>

[Jim Cantore]

Although a survior of that storm could shine some light on this

[HurricaneBill]

Ernest Hemingway was among some of the first people to arrive in the Keys after the hurricane. He was so shocked by the death and destruction, he swore he would never write about it. And he never did.

[Scorpion]

What kind of poll is this of course its rapid deepening. Thats actually an understatement. TD to Cat 5 in 36 hours or something.