Category 3 Gonzalo Pounding Bermuda
Reported by Dr. Jeff Masters of wunderground.com
The winds are rising and huge waves are pounding Bermuda as powerful Category 3 Hurricane Gonzalo closes in with sustained 125 mph winds. Gonzalo is gradually weakening, thanks to wind shear that has risen to a moderate 15 knots and Sea Surface Temperatures (SSTs) that have cooled to 28°C (82°F). However, Gonzalo is not weakening fast enough to spare Bermuda from a devastating strike by a major hurricane. Infrared and visible satellite loops on Friday morning showed that Gonzalo remained an impressive hurricane with a large area of intense heavy thunderstorms, good spiral banding, and solid upper-level outflow to the north. The appearance of the storm was somewhat ragged, with the storm stretched into an elliptical shape and the eye filled with clouds. But Friday morning data from the Hurricane Hunters during their 9 am EDT eye pass showed that Gonzalo remained a dangerous Category 3 hurricane with a central pressure of 947 mb and surface winds of 125 mph. With an eye 35 miles in diameter, Gonzalo's strongest eyewall winds were spread out over an area about 45 miles across.
Bermuda links
Current conditions
Bermuda radar
Port of Bermuda webcam
Storm chaser Jim Edds is providing Twitter updates from Bermuda for Gonzalo
Edds was on Bermuda during Hurricane Fabian in 2003, and put together this 26-minute video on the experience.
Fabian did $300 million in damage, making it the most expensive hurricane ever to hit the island. Fabian was also the first hurricane since 1926 to kill people on Bermuda; four people died when a storm surge swept over the causeway connecting the airport to the rest of the island, washing their car into the ocean. That causeway was replaced by a temporary bridge, which has remained to this day--and is of particular concern for Gonzalo's impact.