Thank God!!! Dennis weakened

[Lori]

I'm east of Pensacola in Niceville/Bluewater Bay (less than 50 miles east of landfall). I haven't lost power, no trees down, roof still intact and not leaking so far. The wind is still gusting strong outside.
Prayers for everyone who suffered through Ivan and now Dennis.

[ncbird]

Glad to hear all is well with you and say a resounding AMEN to your Thank God.

[Innotech]

people directly in the eye got slammed very hard. however I am glad you are safe and sound and your property as well. This storm WAS still a very mean one, however its windfield was extremely compact and lcustered around one very unlucky area. All other places were spared with not much damage at all.

[joseph01]

Glad to hear you came through it well. Prayers for those that may not have. And welcome!

[joseph01]

people directly in the eye got slammed very hard. however I am glad you are safe and sound and your property as well. This storm WAS still a very mean one, however its windfield was extremely compact and lcustered around one very unlucky area. All other places were spared with not much damage at all.

What kind of damages are you hearing for those areas?

[cajungal]

How did the Destin area fare?

[Innotech]

people directly in the eye got slammed very hard. however I am glad you are safe and sound and your property as well. This storm WAS still a very mean one, however its windfield was extremely compact and lcustered around one very unlucky area. All other places were spared with not much damage at all.

What kind of damages are you hearing for those areas?

Im referring to the areas with 10-40 mph winds. that shouldnt do much damage barring damage caused by falling trees in osme cases. The major damage isl ikely on the beachfront and I havent seen any reports from there yet.

[Sanibel]

I think the reason Dennis weakened was because he turned north into the CONUS airmass to his west, flanking his side with continental air. This air did not exist further south - especially in July.

When it pushed that large rain area north over the southern US it precipitated deeply giving it mass. It was hard for the storm to pull this mass around with dry air to his west. His cyclonic engine imbalanced, it worked harder and pulled more lighter mass air in. That lighter mass air was the dry air to his west that then choked the engine...

[Swimdude]

Thank goodness he weakened. I'm sure the damage will be awful, but it could've been a lot worse at 140 versus 120.

[Hoosierwxdude]

I think the reason Dennis weakened was because he turned north into the CONUS airmass to his west, flanking his side with continental air. This air did not exist further south - especially in July.

When it pushed that large rain area north over the southern US it precipitated deeply giving it mass. It was hard for the storm to pull this mass around with dry air to his west. His cyclonic engine imbalanced, it worked harder and pulled more lighter mass air in. That lighter mass air was the dry air to his west that then choked the engine...

There were likely several reasons that Dennis weakened.

Another one could be the slightly cooler water nearshore (and shallower depth of bath water). Though I've seen various seemingly conflicting graphics on exactly how much cooler the water is.

Was still an amazing storm by July standards.

[otowntiger]

people directly in the eye got slammed very hard. however I am glad you are safe and sound and your property as well. This storm WAS still a very mean one, however its windfield was extremely compact and lcustered around one very unlucky area. All other places were spared with not much damage at all.

I'd have to say that even where the eyewall came ashore, I'm seeing a lot of intact buildings with roofs and everything. Its not just that this storm's intense windfield was small, it apparently was not that intense.

[vbhoutex]

Navarre, just to the East of landfall recorded 99 mph sustained with 121 g. I think most of the intense winds were still above the surface at landfall and in fact except for a few instances, did not reach the surface as expected. That being said, the 83 mph gusts in Valparaiso/Niceville were not to be sneezed at.

Like you Lori, my Mom who lives in Niceville also, never lost power and said there was minimal damage in her area.

Gulfbreezer, one of our mods, whose house was at landfall fortunately recieved minimal damage considering her location. At the locationI am talking about she still is not back in her house since Ivan.

We most defintitely give thanks that Dennis was much less than anticipated!!

[StormWarning1]

The surface winds were consistently 75-80 percent of the flight level winds. Usually they are 90 per cent. Perhaps the low level circulation never fully recovered from its trip over Cuba.