cool videos

[wxman57]

What were the winds on that Rita video? They looked nothing more than 60mph at the worst. If that was the worst that New Orleans experienced, they lucked out. Where I rode Kat out, it was at least 3 times worst, and that was north of the Lake. I know, video sometimes doesn't do justice. I have a video of Ivan where I rode it out and it doesn't look nearly as bad as it was in person.

I don't know, but as I posted above, that was hours before it made landfall. The electricity went out long before the hurricane arrived, and there's lights in that video. I've yet to see a video of even how bad I saw it up in Jasper. I have some video that I took myself when I could, but there were no lights and it's so dark, you can't see anything.
I'm assuming since it made landfall in the middle of the night, it was dark hours before and after landfall so nobody really got any good footage. Not to mention, close to 100% of the people evacuated so there weren't many left behind to make videos anyway. I'm sure the Katrina images implanted in everyone's head from just a few weeks earlier helped in that evacuation success rate, and saved many lives.

They just don't make Dairy Queens like they used to....

[wxman57]

This is probably the most graphic example of hurricane-force winds that I've ever seen. Shot by Mike Theiss during Charley's landfall. It shows the disintegration of a Racetrack gas station. The video starts out with winds of only tropical storm force. You can hear the sound and see the fury increase as the winds increase. It appears that most of the video contains winds of ONLY Cat 1 or Cat 2 sustained wind (for those of you who'll ride out such winds). Only near the very end may the sustained wind increase into the Cat 3 range. I don't think the winds hit Cat 4 sustained in the video (131mph). Could have been some brief gusts that high, though.


http://myweb.cableone.net/nolasue/CharleyGasStation.wmv

[Scorpion]

Wow, I assumed that video was mainly Cat 3 winds with short durations of Cat 4. Do you think any of the extreme Charley videos show Cat 4 sustained winds?

[skysummit]

Now THAT'S what I expect to see when I see a title "Hurricane Video". That's impressive. I'd say that's lower end Cat 1 at the beginning increasing to Cat 3 toward the end. I'm sure there are some gusts right over 130mph too. Bye Bye Racetrack!

[Extremeweatherguy]

that was also only the first half of the storm (according to his web page). The damage you see to the gas station at the end was in the eyewall of the storm. To me...I think that video started with 75-80mph sustained (Cat. 1) force winds and elevated to 120-135mph (Cat. 3/4) force winds with gusts to 160mph+. It is surely intense. According to Mike Theiss' web page..there was a report of a gust to 173mph nearby his area at the time. Here is a link to his Hurricane Charley chase web page:

http://www.mthurricane.com/Hurricane_Charley.htm

[Normandy]

Supposedly these are cat3 conditions in Typhoon Omar...so u can compare this to hurricane Charley's video...

javascript:openWindow('../Video_Library/Hurricanes/Typhoon_Omar_Roof_01_Stream.htm')

If that doesnt work, just go here.
http://www.ultimatechase.com/Hurricane_Video.htm
And then go to Omar's video stock (with the falling roof).

IMO Charley's video is slightly more intense.

[wxman57]

Now THAT'S what I expect to see when I see a title "Hurricane Video". That's impressive. I'd say that's lower end Cat 1 at the beginning increasing to Cat 3 toward the end. I'm sure there are some gusts right over 130mph too. Bye Bye Racetrack!

I don't think it looks like Cat 1 at the start. Could be closer to 40-50 mph at the start as the gas station remains intact. I think it starts peeling away after the wind reaches around 60 or so. It's easy to overestimate wind speed.

[Extremeweatherguy]

Now THAT'S what I expect to see when I see a title "Hurricane Video". That's impressive. I'd say that's lower end Cat 1 at the beginning increasing to Cat 3 toward the end. I'm sure there are some gusts right over 130mph too. Bye Bye Racetrack!

I don't think it looks like Cat 1 at the start. Could be closer to 40-50 mph at the start as the gas station remains intact. I think it starts peeling away after the wind reaches around 60 or so. It's easy to overestimate wind speed.

I don't know. That wind looks a lot stronger than what I saw with Hurricane Frances and Hurricane Jeanne (which was 45-55 sustained and gusts to 70-80mph..and this is based on official airport reports). It does not look as strong as what I saw with Charley though (Sustained at 75-90mph with gusts of 100-110mph)...but I think it does look like it falls somewhere in between. May be 55-70mph with gusts to 80-90mph when the video first starts. By the end though, the winds are likely over 120mph sustained with gusts over 160mph (according to the chasers and area reports).

[whereverwx]

The winds were really intense in Typhoon Pongsona.

http://www.hallmarkhost.com/video/typhoon.html

[Extremeweatherguy]

The winds were really intense in Typhoon Pongsona.

http://www.hallmarkhost.com/video/typhoon.html

yes, they look like good Cat. 3 or may be 4 force max winds...but the claim the site makes of gusts to 200+mph for hours on end seems a little in-accurate...especially looking at the aftermath. The aftermath was bad, but not to the level of what a repeating gust to 200+mph for hours would do.

[ROCK]

The winds were really intense in Typhoon Pongsona.

http://www.hallmarkhost.com/video/typhoon.html

yes, they look like good Cat. 3 or may be 4 force max winds...but the claim the site makes of gusts to 200+mph for hours on end seems a little in-accurate...especially looking at the aftermath. The aftermath was bad, but not to the level of what a repeating gust to 200+mph for hours would do.

agreed, That would be like a F2 tornado for hours on end. Nothing would be standing.

[Extremeweatherguy]

Just did some research on the storm and it seems that at landfall winds were sustained at 144mph with gusts to 173mph. So I was right...NOT 200mph gusts, but still a very powerful storm. It was supposedly the 3rd worst storm to ever hit Guam. The landfalling winds were very comparable to those of Hurricane Charley...the difference is that they lasted longer and occured in an area more built to withstand super typhoons.

Here is a good site for info: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/os/assessments/ ... ngsona.pdf

BTW: According to the site...the 173mph gusts were limited to a very NW frindge of the island. Most coastal locations only saw 130-165mph gusts, and most inland area only saw 105-160mph gusts (Higher elevations = 150-165mph gusts). Scroll down on the page provided in the above link to see the wind gust map.

[Scorpion]

The winds in the Charley video are MUCH stronger than what I have seen from Wilma, and I was outside for Wilma during both eyewalls. Wilma brought Cat 1/2 winds here, so I have to assume the winds in the Charley video are mainly 3 with the end being low end 4. Does anyone think that Cat 5 winds can be caught on video? Would the person shooting the video even survive?

[Extremeweatherguy]

The winds in the Charley video are MUCH stronger than what I have seen from Wilma, and I was outside for Wilma during both eyewalls. Wilma brought Cat 1/2 winds here, so I have to assume the winds in the Charley video are mainly 3 with the end being low end 4. Does anyone think that Cat 5 winds can be caught on video? Would the person shooting the video even survive?

That is a good question. Usually the Cat. 5 force winds of a landfalling Cat. 5 storm usually only occur in a very small area or stay slightly above ground level..thus most areas hit with a weak Cat. 5 storm actually only see Cat. 4 force winds. It is certaintly possible though if in the right place at the right time, or in the event of a landfalling 175mph+ Cat. 5 storm (especially if a large storm). I think "true" Cat. 5 video would be about as hard to get as video within the heart of a tornado.

[Scorpion]

Perhaps in the near future we will have enough technology to pinpoint exactly where the Cat 4 or 5 winds are in a strong hurricane so the chasers can get there.

[Pearl River]

ROCK wrote:
Extremeweatherguy wrote:
southerngale wrote:
Thanks for posting those. I've watched a few of them so far. Just so ya know...that's not the peak of Rita as Port Arthur (and other areas) completely lost electricity well before Rita even made landfall, and there's power in that video. Not that anyone thought it was anyway...just figured I'd point that out. Many counties in SE Tx. and I assume SW La. had 100% power failure that lasted an eternity. 2 weeks at my house and I was one of the lucky ones! Anyway, in Jasper, where I had evacuated to, we lost electricity for good around 9pm Friday night. I don't think I'll ever get to see a video of Rita at her worst. It was just too dark and nobody stuck around to be able to film it anyway. My gosh....I can't believe Hurricane Season is just around the corner!!
I know! I feel like the season just ended and yet here we go again! Hopefully all affected last season can be spared this year in order to continue the rebuilding process. I could not imagine if another storm were to strike a place like New Orleans...it would be a catastrophe.


Sounds like we could start a poll with that one. Another major this year to strike NO. What would happen? If it wiped out whats remaining would it really be worth re-building NO near the coast?


I was thinking the same thing. If another storm hit N.O. would it be worth rebuilding? Could we even afford rebuilding? If another Katrina-strength storm struck the city (especially if worse than Katrina), then I think it would not be worth it. I think they would either have to move the city inland or forget about it. May be they can even turn it into a tourist attraction for those wanting to see the effects of a hurricane on a major city? Let's just hope it never comes down to them being hit again so badly in our lifetime.

I guess the same thing could be said about any major city devestated by a hurricane. Should we rebuild Galveston again? Or what about Houston, Miami, Charleston for that matter. Just like New Orleans, it's not a matter of IF, but WHEN.

[Audrey2Katrina]

They just don't make Dairy Queens like they used to....

A2K

[ROCK]

ROCK wrote:
Extremeweatherguy wrote:
southerngale wrote:
Thanks for posting those. I've watched a few of them so far. Just so ya know...that's not the peak of Rita as Port Arthur (and other areas) completely lost electricity well before Rita even made landfall, and there's power in that video. Not that anyone thought it was anyway...just figured I'd point that out. Many counties in SE Tx. and I assume SW La. had 100% power failure that lasted an eternity. 2 weeks at my house and I was one of the lucky ones! Anyway, in Jasper, where I had evacuated to, we lost electricity for good around 9pm Friday night. I don't think I'll ever get to see a video of Rita at her worst. It was just too dark and nobody stuck around to be able to film it anyway. My gosh....I can't believe Hurricane Season is just around the corner!!
I know! I feel like the season just ended and yet here we go again! Hopefully all affected last season can be spared this year in order to continue the rebuilding process. I could not imagine if another storm were to strike a place like New Orleans...it would be a catastrophe.


Sounds like we could start a poll with that one. Another major this year to strike NO. What would happen? If it wiped out whats remaining would it really be worth re-building NO near the coast?


I was thinking the same thing. If another storm hit N.O. would it be worth rebuilding? Could we even afford rebuilding? If another Katrina-strength storm struck the city (especially if worse than Katrina), then I think it would not be worth it. I think they would either have to move the city inland or forget about it. May be they can even turn it into a tourist attraction for those wanting to see the effects of a hurricane on a major city? Let's just hope it never comes down to them being hit again so badly in our lifetime.

I guess the same thing could be said about any major city devestated by a hurricane. Should we rebuild Galveston again? Or what about Houston, Miami, Charleston for that matter. Just like New Orleans, it's not a matter of IF, but WHEN.

true, but we didn't build our city below sea level.

[Audrey2Katrina]

true, but we didn't build our city below sea level.

True... but total devastation is total devastation, and the potential is there for the other cited cities as well... Saw the special on the Galveston storm of 1900, and the meteorologists interviewed admitted there could be a repeat of similar devastation (albeit lesser death toll due to better warning) of the area given a worst-case scenario... destruction is destruction whether it's a little below sea-level, or a little above.

A2K

[Audrey2Katrina]

http://www.ultimatechase.com/Hurricane_Video.htm

Thanks... a good site for some neat videos of a lot of storms... they have the one of Charley and the Gas station and one of Katrina and the surge taken right in Gulfport as the surge moved in... I found that one impressive because you had the double horror of intense wind and massive surge of water busting into the hotel lobby. That car about to crash through the doors was eerie.

A2K