Slow, intense and unrelenting: The science behind Hurricane Dorian's most dangerous qualities

[IronLionZion]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2019/09/04/slow-intense-unrelenting-science-behind-hurricane-dorians-most-dangerous-qualities/?wpisrc=nl_rainbow&wpmm=1



The science connecting climate change to hurricanes like Dorian is strong. Warmer oceans fuel more extreme storms; rising sea levels bolster storm surges and lead to worse floods. Just this summer, after analyzing more than 70 years of Atlantic hurricane data, NASA scientist Tim Hall reported that storms have become much more likely to “stall” over land, prolonging the time when a community is subjected to devastating winds and drenching rain.

But none of the numbers in his spreadsheets could prepare Hall for the image on his computer screen this week: Dorian swirling as a Category 5 storm, monstrous and nearly motionless, above the islands of Great Abaco and Grand Bahama.

Seeing it “just spinning there, spinning there, spinning there, over the same spot,” Hall said, “you can’t help but be awestruck to the point of speechlessness.”

After pulverizing the Bahamas for more than 40 hours, Dorian finally swerved north Tuesday as a Category 2 storm. It is expected to skirt the coasts of Florida and Georgia before striking land again in the Carolinas, where it could deliver more life-threatening wind, storm surge and rain.



“Simply unbelievable,” tweeted Marshall Shepherd, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Georgia and former president of the American Meteorological Society. “I feel nausea over this, and I only get that feeling with a few storms.”

The hurricane has matched or broken records for its intensity and for its creeping pace over the Bahamas. But it also fits a trend: Dorian’s appearance made 2019 the fourth straight year in which a Category 5 hurricane formed in the Atlantic — the longest such streak on record.

It's a good read. The connection to climate change is undeniable, yet you will see people deny it.

[malaise]

1. Get thee to the greatest page - MUST READ

We were discussing the possibility of a Cat 5 stalling over Jamaica or Cuba for 30 hours let alone 40. What many folks don't realize is that the wind speed was as high as 225mph for hours.

Climate change is real

[Lochloosa]

3. I've been in a F4 tornado. For 30 seconds.

I can't fathom 40 hours.

[Wounded Bear]

2. K & R...for visibility...nt