Jose is veering more north than Irma and will hopefully go out to see but will cause some havoc for some of the leeward islands that were hit by Irma.
This storm is nuts! It has been drifting west for four hours. Convection is increasing but the wind speed isn’t. There’s no telling what this thing will do.
Back to football…
Patiently waiting to figure out if my flight will go. Changed it from Tues to Mon because Tues was supposed to be the worse day, and now its flipped. Ugh…
Sort of like the folks in eastern Florida…who went west…and now that is flipped too!
This video and article are unbelievable. The beaches in the Bahamas are dry from all of the water being sucked up into the hurricane and the storm surge that it is carrying. Looks like when a tsunami draws out all the water.
“Convection is increasing but the wind speed isn’t.” Could you expand on that, @droppedit? I don’t know what is supposed to happen with convection, or how you measure convection, or where convection is measured or really anything.
The island in the video in #444 is Long Island, where my in-laws had a cottage for many years.
“I am in disbelief right now…” she wrote. “This is Long Island, Bahamas and the ocean water is missing!!!”
MSNBC spoke with a woman in Key West who was terrified because she decided not to evacuate (I didn’t catch why).
I am really scared for this woman I have clearly never met. She’s been on my mind all night and I’m following Key West closely.
ETA: That video is mind-blowing. If I had to imagine an apocalyptic landscape, that would pretty much be it.
Although there will still be damage from wind and water, I’m thankful that it seems like it is going to hit as a CAT 3 instead of a 4 or 5!
@“Cardinal Fang” – The individual storms in the hurricane are increasing in height and that shows up as colder cloud temperatures on infrared (IR) satellite imagery. Here’s a link to IR image for Irma:
http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/TROP/floaters/11L/imagery/avn0-lalo.gif
See the red colors around the eye? Those are taller storms in the hurricane. A few days ago, when the hurricane was at max intensity, there was a thick red band around the eye (with even some dark gray areas, really tall for a hurricane). Earlier today you only saw orange around the eye, meaning the storms had lower tops and the hurricane had weakened. Not coincidentally, the central pressure has continued to drop. It’s now down to 931 mb, significantly lower than the 940 mb it had this morning.
You can read the NHC discussion about the hurricane here:
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCDAT1+shtml/100258.shtml
The Little Couple (tv reality show) were living in Houston last year but had reported last week that even though their house in Houston was flooded and suffered a lot of damage, they were safe. Where? In St. Petersburg! They have now evacuated their new home.
You have to love their optimism because they sure have had their share of problems in the last few years.
There are some people who have stone or cement houses on the “high” ground in the Keys–around 12 ft above sea level–who have decided to stay. Including the Hemingway house. They have multiple generators. They say their houses are “fortresses.” I hope they’re right.
The National Weather Service has stayed in Key West.
The cats and their keeper are staying put as well.
Back up to CAT 4 over the Keys. 
Irma is strengthening pretty quickly now that it’s moving away from Cuba. Latest recon surface pressure is down to 926 mb. and flight level winds are 15 knots higher in the eyewall (now 123 knots, which is inline with velocity measurements from the NEXRAD on Key West). The NHC has upped the storm to Cat 4.
The saving grace here is that the eye will go into the west side of the Fl peninsula from the south. That means the winds will come from the east, which is over land. If this storm had come into Miami from an easterly direction it would caused major damage. The Keys are toast but the major populated areas will see the storm after it has weakened significantly (it’s the difference between having your house’s structure remaining intact and having nothing left but the foundation).
The storm surge on the southwest coast is the big worry. And the Keys. On Twitter, the professionals are heartsick about the people still on the Keys, being slammed by a monster Cat 4 hurricane.
If the storm makes landfall at St.Pete/Tampa, that’s a major population canter
Been up since 4 am, moving stuff from my garage into my house (the pictures, important stuff). Very nervous here in Gainesville. Thinking of decamping to Ormond.
When I saw the storm might hit just above Horseshoe Beach I started getting really worried (probably 70 miles from here). We are not boarded and we do not have impact glass. None of our neighbors board either (usually not necessary this far inland).
It’s hard because once you leave you don’t know how long until you can get back, and what will be there when you get back.
I’m still stunned that I left SE Florida (on the water!) after 16 years to deal with this here in north central FL. 
Florida State has canceled classes through next Friday. UF is out through Tuesday, but I’m guessing that will have to be extended.
@SouthFloridaMom9 :
I am so sorry, so sorry for Florida and all the islands.
Like most, I am very worried about this storm (I’ve deliberately turned the tv ro another channel). Worry about people who fled and are stuck on the road or in cheap motels. Hoping no one stayed on the Keys.
Is there a way for you to board doors and windows?
Do you have a second floor?
(I think water may be a big problem. That ocean water that was sucked up will come down).
Fill everything you can with water, put granola bars and any food that can be eaten without electricity in a backpack, charge your phones and extra phone batteries. In St Marten, etc, the big issues are 1) water 2)food 3)looting.
Text hourly updates to loved ones (they’re probably up anyway). Seen too many kids panic over parents and vice versa, staring at phones - getting in the habit means you’re less likely to skip it when the storm hits .