No one saw it coming. Ike’s rapid intensification (from tropical storm to Category 4 hurricane in 12 hours) caught everyone by surprise, including forecasters at the National Hurricane Center.
They had anticipated a strengthening tropical cyclone and, in fact, had predicted that Ike would become a major hurricane. But that intensification was expected to be gradual, over a period of days, not hours.
Ike’s explosion of power sent a hurricane wake-up call to everyone is South Florida. The fifth storm in just over two weeks is on everyone’s radar now as we watch and wait to see what the big storm will do in the coming days.
As usual, the future track of the hurricane is full of questions with a spread in the computer models. All the models take the storm toward Florida and then turn it north. The question is when and where does that turn take place. I don’t think we’ll have a clear picture until the weekend.
Safe to say there will be a lot of teeth gnashing and our hearts will beat a little faster each time the National Hurricane Center issues an update on Hurricane Ike. More hurricane angst.
Still, now is the time to begin preparing for the possibility that Ike might come our way. We have time. Based on the forecast from the National Hurricane Center, Ike won’t be threatening Florida until Monday or Tuesday. So, take the time now to prepare.
Our online hurricane guide is an excellent resource full of everything you need to prepare for a storm.
I was very concerned this morning when I heard that Ike had turned into a cat. 4 storm over night. My husband has me even more comcerned because of his attitude towards the storm. I’ve lived here in south Florida all my life and I am no longer staying if there is another cat. 3 or 4 storm heading in my direction. My husband doesn’t want to leave. I am not leaving him here, this is what concerns me the most. The hurricane can take my house but not my family. I had a similar fight when I was a teenager with my mother not wanting to leave. She sent me and my sisters to the panhandle by ourselves until the storm passed. I argued with her until my face turned blue, but it got me no where. Now I have to do it all over again. I love Florida but I may need to find a new state to call home. I can’t live with this stress 6 months out of the year.