Friday, August 26, 2011

Hurricane Irene


Weather.gov, weatherundergroud.com, weather.com, nhc.noaa.gov, wxrisk.com. While not fully versed in all the scientific mumbo jumbo, I still like to follow what the experts are saying. Here is a post I cut and pasted from DT who I follow on his wxrisk.com Facebook page:

***ALERT *** ALERT 0Z GFS RUN IS OUT TO 72 HRS... 0Z GFS TAKE IRENE AGAIN WEST...REPEAT WEST OF HATTERAS at SAT 2PM EDT over sandbrudge VA/ Ngas Head and 50 mies east of the CBBT at SAT 7PM...


What does it all mean? Well I am not really sure what all the acronyms mean but I can figure out that Sandbridge and Nags Head are doomed if the weather model DT is quoting comes true. After all, no one can predict the weather with 100 percent certainty. Even the best meteorologist will tell you that the sophisticated computer models are only as good as the most recent data fed into them and that data changes rapidly and often.

DT has been predicting this would be a bad storm for the Eastern seaboard for about a week now and so far, his predictions have been pretty darn accurate. It remains to be seen what we will get here in Richmond. The coast of NC and VA will definitely get slammed with bad weather, it seems, but here in Richmond, it looks like we will be spared the worst of the storm. We will still likely get lots of rain, either something around 3 or 4 inches, or something around 6 to 8 inches. It really depends on whose forecast you are paying attention to. Some locals have been saying that we will not get that much rain, maybe just 2 or 3 inches. It is an odd thing to me to say that 2 or 3 inches is not that much rain. Relative to what they will get on the shore, it is a lot less, but if it were a regular summer rain event, 2 to 3 inches of rain would be considered a great deal of rain.

At work we are bracing for the worst. We spent all afternoon powering down all of the computer equipment in almost all of our schools. There were even some sandbags placed in and around parts of the building. I certainly hope it is not bad. Being without power is sort of a drag. Sure it is nothing compared to the hardships that millions of people go through everyday. We are lucky to live the lifestyles we live for sure. We have plenty of food, shelter, and resources. We are not in full combat gear in the desert fighting a war that seems like it will never end. We are not starving because of famine. We have rights and people who will protect us from wrong doing.

But alas, I think most of you would agree, being without power puts a crimp in our style. No way to easily cook, no hot showers, no Internet which of course means no Facebook, no Farmville, no Gears of War. It is a far cry from the inconveniences of famine and war but still, it puts us out doesn't it?

For me, I have been paying close attention to the storm for many reasons. I have family and friends who are in the path of the storm. I worry about their well being. I worry about all the firemen, police, coast guard, and military personnel that will be risking their lives this weekend to save and protect others. These people are truly heroes. Also though, and this seems a little selfish to me but it is the truth, I am worried about getting in my workouts.

I can't ride my bike in a hurricane. Petty? Maybe. But it is the truth. I have been thinking about it all week. I am hoping that if I get up very early in the morning and start my ride at first light, I can beat the storm. But looking at the radar, I am not sure that will happen. I can always adjust my schedule but this close to the race, it would be nice to be able to stick to the training schedule. After all, the training plan was custom made for me by a great Triathlon coach who based the plan on lots of data from myself as well as his vast knowledge of training and racing Triathlon. He came in 3rd overall in the Luray International by the way.

I guess I will obsess about the storm for a while tonight but hopefully not too late. Just in case I have the opportunity, I want to be able to feel good for the 55 mile bike ride followed by 45 minutes of running fairly hard. We'll see.

Stay safe and if you are in the path of the storm, be smart. Listen to the warnings and heed them.

Thanks for reading.

1 comment:

allenq said...

It is now 10:00 AM and we have been getting socked with wind and rain since midnight last night. I spent most of the night watching the tornado projections and hurricane status. Thankfully,there has been no disabling winds yet, although we've gotten a ton of rain.

It doesn't help to be told that the worst is yet to come (the hurricane track could go squarely over our heads here in VB) and that it won't be over until midnight tonight!