Irene has an extremely dangerous surge, about on par with Katrina at the moment
Posted by Chris in Tampa on 8/26/2011, 11:07 am
Irene has a rating of 5.0 on the experimental surge/wave destructive potential scale, related to the integrated kinetic energy (IKE) scale, going from 0 to 5.99. Katrina was 5.1.

6:30AM EDT on 8/26, image does not update:


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I'll repost parts of posts I posted earlier this morning because it is worth repeating:

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This storm is going to have more surge than usual.

Taking a look at the surge/waves destructive potential (SDP) rating as part of the integrated kinetic energy (IKE) scale, Irene rates a 5.0 out of 5.99. I don't understand much about the scale enough to explain it other than to say it is a better measurement of surge potential because it takes into effect the physical size of the storm and the distribution of wind in it.

You can view IKE by going here:

http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/Storm_pages/irene2011/wind.html
Click the latest "2° map" or up to "8° map" and at the bottom of the image look for the destructive potential rating. For wind it is very much like the normal Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, but the "Surge/Waves" is a very important value that people in the NE need to understand. Or for perspective, Katrina was a 5.1 in terms of surge/waves at its peak.

Irene is a very dangerous storm in terms of surge.

A helpful image on comparison to some other storms



From: http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/Powell/BAMS_IKE_Paper_final.pdf

And that paper was before the actual storm named "Ike" in 2008. Hurricane Ike, though not on the scale, either surpassed all but Carla or may have even surpassed Carla. I see some different numbers for Ike at the moment, but it was at or second from the top on this image.
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Irene has an extremely dangerous surge, about on par with Katrina at the moment - Chris in Tampa, 8/26/2011, 11:07 am
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