And Now: The Cleanup
Here is a sampling of what people miss when they follow evacuation orders:
Hurricane Michael made landfall at 2 pm EDT October 10, 2018 near Mexico Beach, FL with top sustained winds of 155 mph and a central pressure of 919 mb. This makes Michael the strongest landfalling mainland U.S. hurricane (by pressure) since Camille of 1969, which had a 900 mb pressure, and the strongest by wind speed since Hurricane Andrew of 1992, which had 165 mph winds. Note that Hurricane Maria of 2017 hit Puerto Rico with winds of 155 mph and a central pressure of 920 mb, and was virtually identical in intensity to Michael.
The question was “is this going to be a history maker?”
And the answer is “yes.”
It should be pointed out, and this storm is a good example, that the confidence level regarding track is higher than the confidence level regarding intensity. The forecast track of Michael was amazingly precise as far back as 0400CDT on Tuesday. It was the rapid increase in intensity that left everyone in awe; and that is why it’s foolish to ride one of these things out when given the opportunity, and plenty of time, to move out of the way.
/fl