OCEAN CITY -- The tropical storms will be coming soon enough. But for now, coasts along the Eastern Shore are experiencing the calm seas that commonly come before them.
Forecasts call for "no wave" conditions regularly, meaning meteorologists aren't expecting waves taller than 1 or 2 feet. The conditions indicate a lack of storms moving through the western Atlantic Ocean.
This happens most years along the East Coast in the time leading up to August and September, the most active months of hurricane season, according to Rob Miller, a senior meteorologist for Accuweather.
Throughout August and September, however, it's expected to change as hurricane season reaches its peak. This year is supposed to be a more-active-than-average season, with Accuweather calling for 15 named tropical storms. Eight are slated to be hurricanes, with four of those brewing to a Category 3 or higher, according to meteorologist Andy Mussoline.
Ocean City Emergency Services Director Joe Theobald said the town plans and prepares annually for hurricane season -- which officially began in June and runs until Nov. 30 -- regardless of the forecast.
"It only takes one hurricane to give somebody a really bad day," Theobald said. He suggests visitors and residents know evacuation routes -- Route 50, Route 90, Route 54 and Route 1 -- and have a family plan put together they can execute in the event of a significant storm.
Theobald also stressed a collaborative effort between city staff and the community that should be
coupled with vigilance.
"Mother Nature doesn't care, so we have to," he said.
This year, there is neither, so there is nothing indicative to meteorologists that the weather will be more tame than the average season, Mussoline said.
Meteorologists make their storm projections by evaluating past years that have similar weather variables and patterns that closely resemble the most recent fall, winter and early spring months. An average year sees 10 tropical storms, with six becoming hurricanes and four reaching major hurricane status at a Category 3 or higher.
In 2010, there were 19 storms and 12 hurricanes, but none of them made landfall near the Delmarva Peninsula. In fact, Ocean City has never seen the eye of a hurricane overhead in modern times, but the town has been sideswiped by several.
There is no way to predict before they form which storms will or will not reach land, or where they will if they do.
There was minimal impact to the U.S. last year, and the forecast is to have more of an impact this year, according to Mussoline's analysis of 2010's storms. The impact may not be directly related to landfall, but to the strong waves, winds and heavy rains that can create costly damages to coastal areas, he warned.
"It really doesn't have to make landfall to be damaging," he said.
Ocean City spokeswoman Donna Abbott was working as a reporter at the time, and she recalls interviewing resort evacuees at a shelter set up at Stephen Decatur High School.
"From what I remember, it passed us about 50 miles offshore and didn't directly hit us, but it was the most significant damage we've had from a storm since earlier in history, and there hasn't been anything as significant since," she said.
Half of the Town Council left the resort during the storm to help set up a spot for evacuees at Berlin's Maryland State Police barracks, but the other half stayed in town. Among them was Roland "Fish" Powell, who was mayor at the time. He said he wouldn't recommend it to most people.
"It was very windy, I'll tell you that. ... A storm like that is not something to be taken lightly," Powell said. "It pretty much obliterated our Boardwalk."
After the storm, Boardwalk repairs were needed, along with repairs to a lot of the properties in the area -- especially the oceanfront ones -- according to City Manager Dennis Dare, who was presented with the burden of organizing many of the repairs. Front-end loaders and other special equipment was needed to clear the sand off Coastal Highway and the resort's side streets, and city staff were removing things like barbecue grills and pieces of porches from the streets, Dare recalled. The storm drains throughout town had to be vacuumed, as well.
"It took us probably more than a day to get the streets clear enough to allow property owners to come in and secure their property before the town was allowed back in," Dare said.
He pointed out that a storm of the same caliber as Hurricane Gloria would probably not have as much of a devastating effect on the town now due to beach replenishments that have taken place since. The town now has a manmade dune line and other features to combat tropical storms that may travel near the resort.
Hurricane Gloria was a partial catalyst to getting the beach replenishments underway, according to Dare, and he added it produced a very rare occasion that saw town, county, state and federal government cooperating to get it done.
"Everybody has something to lose when there's a disaster on a beachfront community," Dare said. "If property is damaged, then the city, county and state lose property taxes, and the federal government, in a disaster, comes in and helps."
If hurricane damage to town occurs during tourist season, commerce is lost along with sales tax, creating more losses in revenue as well, Dare said.
"The money spent (on storm protection measures) has been saved many times over, and that was the whole idea," he said.
smuska@dmg.gannett.com
410-213-9442, ext. 14
Forecasts call for "no wave" conditions regularly, meaning meteorologists aren't expecting waves taller than 1 or 2 feet. The conditions indicate a lack of storms moving through the western Atlantic Ocean.
This happens most years along the East Coast in the time leading up to August and September, the most active months of hurricane season, according to Rob Miller, a senior meteorologist for Accuweather.
Throughout August and September, however, it's expected to change as hurricane season reaches its peak. This year is supposed to be a more-active-than-average season, with Accuweather calling for 15 named tropical storms. Eight are slated to be hurricanes, with four of those brewing to a Category 3 or higher, according to meteorologist Andy Mussoline.
Ocean City Emergency Services Director Joe Theobald said the town plans and prepares annually for hurricane season -- which officially began in June and runs until Nov. 30 -- regardless of the forecast.
"It only takes one hurricane to give somebody a really bad day," Theobald said. He suggests visitors and residents know evacuation routes -- Route 50, Route 90, Route 54 and Route 1 -- and have a family plan put together they can execute in the event of a significant storm.
Theobald also stressed a collaborative effort between city staff and the community that should be
coupled with vigilance.
"Mother Nature doesn't care, so we have to," he said.
Hurricane activity
Mussoline attributes this year's above-average predictions to warm water in the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico. The temperatures were high in 2010, and a La Niña over the Pacific Ocean contributed to a higher-than-average year for tropical storms. When there is an El Niño on the Pacific Ocean, hurricane season tends to be less eventful, as was the case in 2009.This year, there is neither, so there is nothing indicative to meteorologists that the weather will be more tame than the average season, Mussoline said.
Meteorologists make their storm projections by evaluating past years that have similar weather variables and patterns that closely resemble the most recent fall, winter and early spring months. An average year sees 10 tropical storms, with six becoming hurricanes and four reaching major hurricane status at a Category 3 or higher.
In 2010, there were 19 storms and 12 hurricanes, but none of them made landfall near the Delmarva Peninsula. In fact, Ocean City has never seen the eye of a hurricane overhead in modern times, but the town has been sideswiped by several.
There is no way to predict before they form which storms will or will not reach land, or where they will if they do.
There was minimal impact to the U.S. last year, and the forecast is to have more of an impact this year, according to Mussoline's analysis of 2010's storms. The impact may not be directly related to landfall, but to the strong waves, winds and heavy rains that can create costly damages to coastal areas, he warned.
"It really doesn't have to make landfall to be damaging," he said.
Hurricane Gloria
Hurricane Gloria in 1985 is an example of a major Category 5 storm that caused significant damage to Ocean City and resulted in an evacuation, a safety measure that hasn't gone into effect since.Ocean City spokeswoman Donna Abbott was working as a reporter at the time, and she recalls interviewing resort evacuees at a shelter set up at Stephen Decatur High School.
"From what I remember, it passed us about 50 miles offshore and didn't directly hit us, but it was the most significant damage we've had from a storm since earlier in history, and there hasn't been anything as significant since," she said.
Half of the Town Council left the resort during the storm to help set up a spot for evacuees at Berlin's Maryland State Police barracks, but the other half stayed in town. Among them was Roland "Fish" Powell, who was mayor at the time. He said he wouldn't recommend it to most people.
"It was very windy, I'll tell you that. ... A storm like that is not something to be taken lightly," Powell said. "It pretty much obliterated our Boardwalk."
After the storm, Boardwalk repairs were needed, along with repairs to a lot of the properties in the area -- especially the oceanfront ones -- according to City Manager Dennis Dare, who was presented with the burden of organizing many of the repairs. Front-end loaders and other special equipment was needed to clear the sand off Coastal Highway and the resort's side streets, and city staff were removing things like barbecue grills and pieces of porches from the streets, Dare recalled. The storm drains throughout town had to be vacuumed, as well.
"It took us probably more than a day to get the streets clear enough to allow property owners to come in and secure their property before the town was allowed back in," Dare said.
He pointed out that a storm of the same caliber as Hurricane Gloria would probably not have as much of a devastating effect on the town now due to beach replenishments that have taken place since. The town now has a manmade dune line and other features to combat tropical storms that may travel near the resort.
Hurricane Gloria was a partial catalyst to getting the beach replenishments underway, according to Dare, and he added it produced a very rare occasion that saw town, county, state and federal government cooperating to get it done.
"Everybody has something to lose when there's a disaster on a beachfront community," Dare said. "If property is damaged, then the city, county and state lose property taxes, and the federal government, in a disaster, comes in and helps."
If hurricane damage to town occurs during tourist season, commerce is lost along with sales tax, creating more losses in revenue as well, Dare said.
"The money spent (on storm protection measures) has been saved many times over, and that was the whole idea," he said.
smuska@dmg.gannett.com
410-213-9442, ext. 14
No comments:
Post a Comment