Joe Bastardi says:
There are winds gusting to near 120 mph. The storm may destroy every boardwalk up the coast. Please, you are doing a disservice to our side of the debate by downplaying this. ITS A 951 MB LAND FALL… 6th strongest on record in NC.
This is not a fight you should be fighting with these people. Lets not resort to the tactics they have ( warmingistas) by twisting examples. The exposure of some of the ob sites is leading to some of the reports, but other areas are getting hammered in the way this should 951 mb is similar to the pressure of IKE which was ridiculed before hand cause it was downgraded to 2
I beg of you guys. Make fun of me after if this is not a 5-10 billion dollar storm , but wait till the game is over because we are setting ourselves up for problems if we find the boardwalks destroyed and people without power for a week like I think.
LETS FIGHT THEM WITH TRUTH on the facts .. Hurricanes are not caused by global warming, but lets fight them on the merits of the issue, not with examples, whether I am right on how this turns out or not!
If this hurricane with its 85 mph winds (National Hurricane Center) is the 6th worst in North Carolina’s history then that state has been blessed indeed with a lack of big hurricanes.
“boardwalks destroyed and people without power for a week”
what………….
There are people in the Bahamas with half a house right now, no commercial docks which are their life blood…… and we’re whining about boardwalks!
Agreed … and Joe is one of my hero’s, but then so was Tiger Woods …
Joe Bastardi makes sense. And our concern must be for our own nation. Mr Bastardi was not whining about boardwalks but stating facts. No need to denigrate him, he is well respected and certainly not an alarmist!
I just watched news coverage of the storm on 5 cable channels. Oddly, not one mentioned the sustained winds at all. No one even mentioned gusts. Wind speed was just off the radar.
I did see on street that was covered with a whole foot of water. I was terrified at the sight. Thank the gods nothing like that has happened here in Florida.
LOL…………………….
I just heard on the news that any one caught playing in the water would be arrested…
…they would have to arrest the entire state of Florida
Only the short ones…….
I think we’re on to something…..
Short people got no reason
Short people got no reason
Short people got no reason
To live
They got little hands
Little eyes
They walk around
Tellin’ great big lies
LOL…..
Ohhhh the humanity….
Are you completely high? The last storm that hit Key West had eight freaking feet of water running all the way up and over the streets and houses. Of COURSE this has happened in Florida. Did you not see the pictures in Key Largo? Does the 1935 Labor Day storm ring any of you bells? Did Andrew not register? Charlie? David? Were you asleep during Georges? Do you even live here in Florida? Donna. Camile. Betsy … that was a good one. Ivan. There’s no town in Florida that hasn’t been hit at least once. Never happens here? Crazy.
BoR….you’re not very quick, are you?
….obviously there are very slow people that read Drudge
@BoR Are you completely high?
Workin on it, How tall are you by the way?
I did see on street that was covered with a whole foot of water. I was terrified at the sight. Thank the gods nothing like that has happened here in Florida.
LOL!
Just came across this site. Please explain how questioning wind speed in a hurricane is actually smart. Understand the political agenda, but these posts today are just irresponsible and silly.
Irresponsible in what way? Is someone endangered because of what Steve posted? Is it his fault he can’t find a source for their claims? What harm does he cause by pointing out the truth? And what kind of man calls himself biff? I bet you look like Chaz Bono.
Mr. Goddard hasn’t minimized the threat of excessive rainfall or storm surge. His comments seem to be solely focused on wind speed. I’ve been reading the blog as part of an effort to seek the truth about H. Irene’s wind speed. Whether that is smart or not — I suppose the pursuit of the truth is always smart.
But what is the point of the debate? Does he thing wind speeds are being exaggerated to promote the liberal agenda?
The point of the debate is that surface wind speeds don’t agree with NOAAs initial claim of 85 MPH, and NOAA has just acknowledged that fact.
“Mr. Goddard hasn’t minimized the threat of excessive rainfall or storm surge. His comments seem to be solely focused on wind speed.”
So what? He is minimizing the impact of the situation. Who gives a fig about focusing solely on wind speeds?
…there’s an analogy there somewhere
I must be misunderstanding Mr. Goddard’s critics. It seems that their position is that because rainfall and/or storm surge can lead to damaging flood water, it is irresponsible to try to determine actual wind speeds associated with H. Irene. Am I unintentionally misconstruing the critics’ position?
stevengoddard says:
August 28, 2011 at 12:12 am
The point of the debate is that surface wind speeds don’t agree with NOAAs initial claim of 85 MPH, and NOAA has just acknowledged that fact.
That point was missed by most commenters on the post that was linked to Drudge.
You people don’t know anything about Hurricanes. Winds are not the most dangerous part of a hurricane (there are some exceptions: Hurricane Andrew for example). Generally speaking, storm surge and drenching rain cause more damage than wind. By talking about what a dud this hurricane is because it has no wind you are missing the point completely and are making yourselves look foolish.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_Storm_Allison
agree. any idiot who spends 10 minutes researching hurricanes knows this. steven goddard and all the idiots saying the winds are all hype haven’t seen real winds (read: andrew, francis, charlie, jeanne, ivan and katrina) to know what the fuck you’re talking about. when the storm surge hits, i hope you all get fucked so you know what we deal with every year in the tropics.
Aren’t you supposed to be fetching me a towel and a Piña Coloda? Put your sandals back on and get to work.
“Aren’t you supposed to be fetching me a towel and a Piña Coloda? Put your sandals back on and get to work.”
This is what passes for rational debate on a ‘skeptic’ website’. It is nothing more than a feeble ego defense.
Duh;
Hear, hear!
This weakening puppy is 500 miles wide! If it were half the diameter then it would pack a much bigger punch as far as wind speed. Yet the huge diameter of this storm more than compensates for wind speed.
http://news.yahoo.com/irene-churns-coast-weaker-still-ferocious-213121218.html
but it isn’t….is it
Storm surge and flooding from rain would be the main threat I would see from this storm. These threats cannot be ignored.
But there doesn’t seem to be that much of a surge. I would agree that the rain is going to cause some problems however, but nothing more than as is seen elsewhere in the country all the time.
Perspective….
Tax cuts for the rich cause more wind speed
“Tax cuts for the rich cause more wind speed”
More wind speed from your posterior.
“Context” is something that is unique to humans, most appreciable to adults.
So, evidently to some here, the hysterical hyperbole that emanated from NOAA is no big deal, but questioning the almighty state is heresy.
Why don’t you guys admit it? All these threads posted about the ‘triviality’ of Irene are nothing more than childish attempts to downgrade any organization connected to AGW.
As for your quip about “worshipping” the state, it is nothing more than pseudo anti-authoritarianism. NOAA is doing a much better job than you could ever do.
Hear, hear! I for one welcome our NOAA Overlords. Good point Sharpshooter.
Oh noes! Without power for a week! Don’t let anyone tell him, but when we had that blizzard+massive freezing rain in Ontario and Quebec, some people were without power for 4 months. And in those 4 months, the temperature dropped as low as -38C.
And just wait until power is provided by renewables only.
The problem is that this is a slow 24 hour news cycle, and the media got hold of this storm and way over-hyped it. Mayor Bloomberg forced 5 hospitals to move patients, some on life support. At what cost (one ambulance, 4 nurses per patient) and what risk to the patient? He shut down the subways. What will 150,000 people that evacuated do–walk home? And all this for what? Come on, there are stronger noreasters nearly every winter. The forecasters went overboard, and once they got themselves painted into a corner and saw that the storm was spreading wide and weakening, their pride wouldn’t let them back down, so they started faking (or at least over-stating) information to save face. That’s the rub–these guys are like the chicken saying the sky is falling, so when a REAL storm comes, nobody will believe them. That’s the danger here.
Bastardi needs to face up to the “wuss factor” in modern day life–everything is huge drama and he must address this problem because “over forecasting” occurs WAY more than “under forecasting” and it’s causing people to disregard real warnings, sirens, and screaming headlines. People already distrust authority–events like this simply feeds that narrative. One day thousands will refuse to evacuate when the REAL THING hits, and the responsibility for those deaths could arguably fall back on the heads of the silly forecasters.