Re: Irene has an extremely dangerous surge, about on par with Katrina at the moment
Posted by LawKat on 8/26/2011, 12:44 pm
The surge potential is a fairly recent discovery in that Katrina became the first glaring example of a former Cat 5 storm, making landfall at Cat 3, but still producing a Cat 5 wave/surge height.  A lot of study has been done, but it's only been in earnest, studied since 2005.

Irene was a Cat 3 hurricane with winds of 120 mph at one point, ladies and gentlemen.  Also consider that Irene's pressure at 942 was that of a low end Cat 4.  The size of the storm is 80-85% of Katrina's wind fields.

When you take these factors into consideration, wind damage may not be as harrowing as once thought, at 105 mph, but the total volume of water being pushed forward in front of this storm is massive.

Many inlets, bays, and coves will act to cup this water and make worse what ordinarily would be bad to begin with.  A surge that can't spread out, must push inland.  Also, the continental shelf is not as far out  on the East Coast as the Gulf Coast.  A very slim shelf means that water heights may rise more abruptly than in Gulf storms.

The first water rises should already be becoming visible along the Carolina coastlines.  Rains are pushing into the coastal counties of both SC and NC.
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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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