First Alert Neighborhood Weather Network. Scan below &/or click * here *:
“Talking the Tropics With Mike” – click *here* – updated daily during hurricane season – through November 30th… multiple times a day when the tropics are particularly active.
Helene is making headlines as the hurricane moves across the southern and eastern Gulf of Mexico and makes landfall in the Eastern Panhandle, not far from Florida’s Big Bend. If it is a Category 3 or stronger hurricane, Helene would be the 5th “major” hurricane to make landfall on the Florida coast in the past 10 years – all since 2017 (Irma, Michael, Ian and Idalia).
The USGS deployed wave sensors along the Florida coastline before Helene’s impact:
Tampa, Florida —In preparation for Hurricane Helene, U.S. Geological Survey scientists are deploying 13 wave sensors across Florida between Venice and Panama City today. Potential impacts from Helene include life-threatening storm surges along the entire west coast of the Florida peninsula and Florida Big Bend, and devastating hurricane-force winds across parts of northern Florida, the National Hurricane Center said.
The sensors measure water levels and provide insight into factors such as wave height and frequency, storm surge and storm surge. The sensors will be placed from Helene’s arrival until the storm has passed. At that point, scientists will retrieve the instruments and analyze the collected data.
The resulting information can be used to refine future storm surge and coastal change predictions. The sensor data can help identify areas hardest hit by storm surge and guide emergency responders and local officials in recovery efforts. Insights can also help inform flood insurance maps and building codes to improve structural designs for public safety.
“Studying Helene and other storms provides real-world insights that are valuable for community preparedness,” said Kevin Grimsley, who is part of this effort and the deputy center director for data at the USGS Caribbean-Florida Water Science Center. “Wave sensors capture data at a very high frequency, so we can get extremely detailed and comprehensive data.”
The wave sensors are housed in ventilated aluminum tubes a few inches wide and about a foot long. They are installed on bridges, piers and other structures that have a good chance of surviving the storm.
Post-storm data (primarily from the west coast of Florida) can be found *here* as it becomes available.
Below – Laura Lapolice, USGS Hydrologic Technician, attaches a storm surge sensor to the Carolina Beach Fishing Pier in Carolina Beach, North Carolina, Sept. 3. This is one of hundreds of sensors placed along the coast from Florida to southern Virginia to monitor the coastal effects of Hurricane Dorian. Photo by Jon Willis, USGS.
Sad news in the Jacksonville local media community as radio host and DJ Arthur Crofton has passed away at the age of 72. I have worked with Arthur professionally at times… local benefits… and have worked with Arthur quite extensively in the non-profit sector. Rest in peace and may Arthur’s dear family find comfort and serenity.
