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[LoopyLoo07]

Has there been any news on how high the storm surges have been? Will the worst of the surges have hit the west coast by now?

[Bal]

Originally Posted by LoopyLoo07

Has there been any news on how high the storm surges have been? Will the worst of the surges have hit the west coast by now?

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I'm not sure we will know until day light, but the final projection I saw was 9 feet Tampa and 12 feet near Manatee County.

At one point, Tampa was forecast at 15 feet, so it did reduce, but of course, 9 feet is no joke!

[amy56]

Originally Posted by LoopyLoo07

Has there been any news on how high the storm surges have been? Will the worst of the surges have hit the west coast by now?

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Oh American news the highest have been at St Pete’s and I think they were 16ft 😢

[Bal]

The mayor from Fort Myers just appeared on Fox and said he was relieved and that they have been surveying the area. He said they need to keep looking, which will be easier in the light, but he believes this could have been much worse. On that, admittedly quite anecdotal evidence, it does seem like the storm surges in that area at least were not as bad as they feared they could be.

There appears to be some structural damage in Tampa, and a crane has damaged an office building (nobody has been hurt).

Milton weakened in the last few hours before landfall and then rapidly overland. The damage in Orlando so far seems limited. Some gusts there got to 80 mph, but mostly well below that. There has been no loss of power at this point, and there is still a bit of time to go for that area, so it could still get worse, but thankfully, it doesn't appear to have been too bad for the area.

[johnandmaz]

Originally Posted by neilmfc88

It amazes me how accurate the Americans seem to get their weather forecast compared to the chucking darts at a chart we invariably deal with here.

WESH has been saying for days 2pm is when it’s going to get hairy and within 5 mins of that up spring about 7 tornadoes. Mad.

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In defence of our Meteorological Office - they have a 92.2% accuracy rate. That's within 2 degrees temperature, 5 knot windspeed and rainfall. Even the 7 day forecast is accurate 80% of the time now. That is amongst one of the most accurate of any meteorological office in the world.

Like most things people just remember the times they got it wrong. There will always be times when the forecast says rain but it moves a mile South of us.

[Bal]

Originally Posted by johnandmaz

In defence of our Meteorological Office - they have a 92.2% accuracy rate. That's within 2 degrees temperature, 5 knot windspeed and rainfall. Even the 7 day forecast is accurate 80% of the time now. That is amongst one of the most accurate of any meteorological office in the world.

Like most things people just remember the times they got it wrong. There will always be times when the forecast says rain but it moves a mile South of us.

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Although, today may not be the best example. The BBC Weather app currently reports that my local town in the UK is experiencing a hurricane with wind speeds of up to 15,855 mph. (they are trying to sort the glitches out now, reported https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0kjrp2rngzo)

[Briggykins]

Originally Posted by Bal

Although, today may not be the best example. The BBC Weather app currently reports that my local town in the UK is experiencing a hurricane with wind speeds of up to 15,855 mph. (they are trying to sort the glitches out now, reported https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0kjrp2rngzo)

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BBC Weather doesn't use the Met Office any more, they're using MeteoGroup. Although it does sound like the BBC managed to mess this up all on their own.

[Donz1979]

They have just said on This Morning that Disney removed parts of the castle to keep it safe, never heard that before.

[Bal]

Originally Posted by Briggykins

BBC Weather doesn't use the Met Office any more, they're using MeteoGroup. Although it does sound like the BBC managed to mess this up all on their own.

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Yeah, I know, just a little light humour. It's got nothing to do with their ability to forecast the weather. Just a technical glitch. Which I'm glad about, as wind speeds over 15,000 mph sound problematic. I don't have an appropriate coat for that!

[Gelatoni]

Originally Posted by Donz1979

They have just said on This Morning that Disney removed parts of the castle to keep it safe, never heard that before.

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I think they did this for Irma, although that was a stronger category 3 (this was 1). I remember they pinned and tied down just about everything for Irma, and there was significant flooding. I was there. Animal Kingdom was hit worst with many trees down.

Seems like this one hasn't exceeded gusts of 80mph in Orlando, and remained below cat 1 thankfully. Cinderella's Castle is rated for 125mph, interestingly. 😄