Ian Category 4 Hurricane

[dqhall]

The southern Caribbean was 1-3 degrees above normal as Ian became a tropical storm. Parking garages flooded. Cars floated in streets. Roofs blew away. Thousands lost power. Ian made landfall and began to weaken.

I remembered Luke 21 reported bad things will happen; it this is not the end of the world.

Luke 21:25 There will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars; and on the earth anxiety of nations, in perplexity for the roaring of the sea and the waves; 26 men fainting for fear, and for expectation of the things which are coming on the world: for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 But when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is near.”

With global warming Category 4 hurricanes are becoming more common in the Atlantic. The worsening of storms is a gradual process difficult to discern unless you look at the historical records. It is not the end of the world, but is a source of grief.

 

[wing2000]

The increasing frequency of "rapidly intensifying storms" is another sign for concern.

The National Hurricane Center defines rapidly intensifying storms as those that gain at least 35 mph in wind speed in less than 24 hours. Sudden changes can cause major problems for forecasters and emergency planners trying to help residents get out of harm’s way.

In Ian’s case, the meteorological conditions were so obvious that forecasters were warning about it days in advance.

While hurricane seasons fluctuate year-to-year, when looked at over 10-year intervals, there are roughly 25% more rapidly intensifying storms in the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific now than 40 years ago, according to an analysis of National Hurricane Center data by The Associated Press. From 2017 to 2021 there have been 30 rapidly intensifying storms in the Atlantic and 32 in the Eastern Pacific.

“That’s a staggering statistic,” said former National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration climate and hurricane scientist Jim Kossin, now with the private Climate Service, a risk analysis firm. “What used to be a very, very rare event obviously has not been rare lately.”

Hurricane Ian gets nasty quickly, turbocharged by warm water