Ken Kurtis
Contributor
Since I sent you the newsletter 24 hours ago, this will be relatively brief . . .
HURRICANE UPDATE - In case you're thinking, "This is supposed to be about diving. Why is he spending so much time on a hurricane?" It's because this particular hurricane is not only churning through dive areas, but places where we've been a number of times and have friends still in those areas, so it really hits close to home. (Plus I used to be the weekend weatherman for KABC-TV many moons ago, so I've always had an interest in meteorological stuff.)
AS OF 7PM SUNDAY - Hurricane Dorian is right now about halfway between Great Abaco and Grand Bahama. These are the two northernmost of the Bahama Islands. The storm spent much of today ripping Abaco apart and some areas of the island are described as "uninhabitable." The storm is now a Category 5 with sustained winds of 185mph and gusts up to 220mph. To put this in perspective, the highest wind speed EVER recorded was 253mph in 1996 during a Pacific cyclone. Yikes!!! As you may know, hurricanes pick up strength over water and lose it over land. So while the distance between Abaco and Grand Bahama is small, it's over water. The eye should hit the eastern side of Grand Bahama in the next few hours, and then it's predicted to slow down and linger most of Monday. We used to go to Freeport a lot and dive with UNEXSO (Underwater Explorers Society) and there are concerns that the huge harbor in Freeport is going to sustain some pretty heavy damage. The key question is: When will Dorian start to turn north? The longer that takes, and the more the hurricane tracks westward, the more danger Florida is in.
OUTLOOK FOR FLORIDA - The distance between West Palm Beach, Florida and the western tip of Grand Bahama is about 90 miles. In 2005, Hurricane Dennis, a Category 3 storm whose center was 200 miles away, managed to flip the Spiegel Grove into an upright position. West Palm has a number of wrecks in relatively shallow water (85'), so those will be of concern. Also in that area is Blue Heron Bridge, which is a macro divers paradise, and which has almost no protection from any kind of storm surge or heavy ocean waves. It is quite possible that that site could be stripped clean by a storm of this magnitude.
IN THE COMING DAYS - The storm will be moving parallel to the Florida coast Tuesday and Wednesday. Again, since it's over water, it probably won't lose much steam. It'll hit Georgia and South Carolina on Thursday and will lose some steam but then will go through North Carolina and the Outer Banks, home to more wrecks, on Friday. That's as far as the current forecast models go but if their tracks are correct, Dorian could skirt by Philadelphia, New York, and Boston, and finally peter out in Nova Scotia or Newfoundland. But it looks like everything that is diveable along the entire eastern coast of the United States has a chance to be adversely affected by Hurricane Dorian.
TRACKING LINK - Here's the link to the National Hurricane Center map. You'll also see - oh joy, oh joy - that there's another potential disturbance forming off the coast of Africa: https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/cyclones/ .
On to better things . . .
THURSDAY NIGHT DIVE - Dorian will NOT affect our planned night dive for this Thursday at Redondo. As I mentioned in the newsletter, there have been sightings of a Prickly Shark in the 80-foot depth contour, so we might go take a peek and see if we can find him. (I've never seen one so that would be cool.) Two things to remember if you're going to join us: Call 310/652-4990 to get signed up (or e-mail here), and bring quarters for the parking meters.
And that'll do it for now. Have a great Labor Day on Monday whether you're diving or not. And keep your fingers crossed for all of our friends in vulnerable hurricane-affected areas.
- Ken
HURRICANE UPDATE - In case you're thinking, "This is supposed to be about diving. Why is he spending so much time on a hurricane?" It's because this particular hurricane is not only churning through dive areas, but places where we've been a number of times and have friends still in those areas, so it really hits close to home. (Plus I used to be the weekend weatherman for KABC-TV many moons ago, so I've always had an interest in meteorological stuff.)
AS OF 7PM SUNDAY - Hurricane Dorian is right now about halfway between Great Abaco and Grand Bahama. These are the two northernmost of the Bahama Islands. The storm spent much of today ripping Abaco apart and some areas of the island are described as "uninhabitable." The storm is now a Category 5 with sustained winds of 185mph and gusts up to 220mph. To put this in perspective, the highest wind speed EVER recorded was 253mph in 1996 during a Pacific cyclone. Yikes!!! As you may know, hurricanes pick up strength over water and lose it over land. So while the distance between Abaco and Grand Bahama is small, it's over water. The eye should hit the eastern side of Grand Bahama in the next few hours, and then it's predicted to slow down and linger most of Monday. We used to go to Freeport a lot and dive with UNEXSO (Underwater Explorers Society) and there are concerns that the huge harbor in Freeport is going to sustain some pretty heavy damage. The key question is: When will Dorian start to turn north? The longer that takes, and the more the hurricane tracks westward, the more danger Florida is in.
OUTLOOK FOR FLORIDA - The distance between West Palm Beach, Florida and the western tip of Grand Bahama is about 90 miles. In 2005, Hurricane Dennis, a Category 3 storm whose center was 200 miles away, managed to flip the Spiegel Grove into an upright position. West Palm has a number of wrecks in relatively shallow water (85'), so those will be of concern. Also in that area is Blue Heron Bridge, which is a macro divers paradise, and which has almost no protection from any kind of storm surge or heavy ocean waves. It is quite possible that that site could be stripped clean by a storm of this magnitude.
IN THE COMING DAYS - The storm will be moving parallel to the Florida coast Tuesday and Wednesday. Again, since it's over water, it probably won't lose much steam. It'll hit Georgia and South Carolina on Thursday and will lose some steam but then will go through North Carolina and the Outer Banks, home to more wrecks, on Friday. That's as far as the current forecast models go but if their tracks are correct, Dorian could skirt by Philadelphia, New York, and Boston, and finally peter out in Nova Scotia or Newfoundland. But it looks like everything that is diveable along the entire eastern coast of the United States has a chance to be adversely affected by Hurricane Dorian.
TRACKING LINK - Here's the link to the National Hurricane Center map. You'll also see - oh joy, oh joy - that there's another potential disturbance forming off the coast of Africa: https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/cyclones/ .
On to better things . . .
THURSDAY NIGHT DIVE - Dorian will NOT affect our planned night dive for this Thursday at Redondo. As I mentioned in the newsletter, there have been sightings of a Prickly Shark in the 80-foot depth contour, so we might go take a peek and see if we can find him. (I've never seen one so that would be cool.) Two things to remember if you're going to join us: Call 310/652-4990 to get signed up (or e-mail here), and bring quarters for the parking meters.
And that'll do it for now. Have a great Labor Day on Monday whether you're diving or not. And keep your fingers crossed for all of our friends in vulnerable hurricane-affected areas.
- Ken
