Hurricane season 2012 has finally come to an end. The season was a strange one with 19 named storms but mainly two that we will remember well. Isaac, if you recall, was the storm that tried but did not do much damage as it moved through the Florida Keys. As it moved through the Caribbean and into the Gulf of Mexico, it generated large amounts of rain and flooding, especially along the Treasure Coast of Florida. It then made landfall near New Orleans in almost the same place and date as Katrina. The system caused lots of flooding and some breaches of the dikes. The damage was nothing like that of Katrina but it did create an impact on the Gulf Coast.
By far the most remembered storm of the 2012 season will be Sandy. Sandy was an unusual storm in the fact that it transversed from a tropical system to a hybrid. The system was never normal even from the beginning. The system started out as as a normal tropical system but as it moved over Cuba and beyond it started to show some strange characteristics. The extremly low pressure was not generating the expected wind speed at the surface. In addition, the system began to expand dramatically as it chugged up the coast past Florida. Even though it was well offshore, the storm generated tremendous high tides along the coast. In fact, in Ft Lauderdale, parts of A1A are still washed out and in the process of being rebuilt. The erosion was so bad that parts of A1A that were 4 lanes may have to be rebuilt into only 2 lanes.
As Sandy moved north she was picking up lots of energy from the Gulf Stream. This helped her to maintain her strength as she moved north. The storm kept expanding her wind field as she traveled up the coast. What was unique is the fact that Sandy had a tropical central core and a Nor”easter like structure away from the core. A once in a lifetime scenario.
The north east has been hit with many nor’easters and some tropical systems over the past few years but in almost every case, the systems travel up the coast in a parallel fashion. Sandy was different, she made a hard left turn that is an almost impossible track under most circumstances.
As Sandy approached New Jersey, there was a high pressure system to the north and a jet stream flow to the south. Sandy had no place to go. She was blocked and made the turn directly into the coast of New Jersey bringing with it an unbelievable storm surge. Most folks never thought that it would get this bad despite all the warnings. Because of this, many stayed put in the evacuation areas. This turned out to be a major mistake for many. Many of these people have seen flooding from storms but nothing that they could not handle. This was different as the record storm surge hit a time when astronomical high tides were also present. The combination of the two caused massive destruction alnong the coast all the way through New York and beyond.
I think a huge question that needs to be answered is how could we of had more people listen and evacuate when they were told to do so? I think that they should of issued Hurricane Warnings in place of the warnings that were issued. They did not do this because of the hybrid nature of the storm. It was still being tracked by the hurricane center when it made landfall. I think that Hurricane Warnings would of created a greater sense of urgency in getting people out of harms way.
People often say that media like the Weather Channel make things more dramatic by their reports. They were trying to get people to act even before local governments were taking things seriously. I was also trying to get the information out on my website on how serious this situation might become. Many people listened but some decided to stay behind. Somehow, we have to get the small percentage of people that do not listen to act the next time a serious weather situation is evident.
I did a quick video blog of the 2012 season and you can access it by clicking on “Hurricane Season 2012” at the beginning of this article.
Our prayers go out to all those affected by these terrible storms. We sincerely hope these areas have a fast and steady recovery.
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