Sorry I am a bit late with my update; I had to help my parents secure a number of boats. Hauling anchors, running line, running chain, stowing missile hazards, such things are the staple of hurricane preparation. A number of yachts and sailboats have fled up river already. Tommorrow at 4 a.m. the county will secure all drawbridges, but most captains will have everything secured long before then.

Fort Lauderdale is the "Venice of America", with more navigable waterways than the Italian City of that name. There is an enormous maritime community here, it just can't be described in words. You have to see it.

Anyway, things are looking a teeny better for Rob and his family, as long as Frances doesn't have any "Charley-like" tricks up her sleeve. As you can see by this hurricane map and satellite photo, the expected landfall has drifted just a tad North, right about where Fort Pierce is.

I feel sorry for wherever this thing lands. For those who cannot remember Hurricane Andrew in 1992, power was out for weeks, even months in some areas. Not even traffic likes. It made you think you knew what a nuclear holocaust would be like.

Fort Pierce, Stuart, West Palm Beach. Wherever it lands... They'll know what that might feel like, too.

I am not to worried at this point. It looks like it is trending well North of our home. We'll likely see 60 mph winds here, which aren't so bad at all. Our dogs won't like it very much, we'll make sure to give them lots of extra hugs.

The only real worry is if it suddenly turns. Confident security could become peril before you have time to realize what is happening , and the scores of brief tornados (they do the real damage during a hurricane) are unpredictable, and more common the closer you get to the eye of the hurricane. The NE corner above the eye is rife with them, and the worst place to be.

We are in a good position to ride the storm out in the weakest quadrant, the SW corner. Even if it does drift further South, we're still likely to be in a good spot.

The next partial advisory will be at 2000hrs, the next complete picture will be at 2300hrs. You might hear from me again at 8:pm, but certainly by midnight with another update.

Posted by Michael at September 2, 2004 05:49 PM