Hurricane Florence and the Future Gordon

Hello, peoples. Did you miss me??? I had a crazy weekend. I think that's all I have to say about that, except the weather mostly cooperated. We even enjoyed the water park on Saturday afternoon.

Here's what we have: Hurricane Florence with a whopping 80mph winds and dropping pressure as it's coasting by Bermuda wreaking havoc as a Cat 1 event. I have heard reports of strong wind gusts and some tornadic activity. They are in the northeast quadrant, which means the strongest surge. I have heard reports that they should expect 20-30 foot surf. That's pretty big. It must be very frightening for those people on the island. Jim Cantore has been deployed there, and he is staying in some concrete structure... Cat 1, he should be OK...

Also East of the Leeward Islands, we have tropical depression number 7, gaining strength, now at only 35 mph winds sustained, but looking impressive on satellite image. They expect he'll be TS Gordon by the end of the day.

Locally, we had a strange occurence
Strong earthquake shakes Gulf of Mexico; no damage reported
Associated Press
TAMPA, Fla. - The largest earthquake to strike the eastern Gulf of Mexico in the last 30 years sent shock waves from Louisiana to southwest Florida, but did little more than rattle residents.

The U.S. Geological Survey says the magnitude six-point-zero earthquake was centered about 260 miles southwest of Tampa, Florida, yesterday. It was too small to trigger a tsunami or dangerous waves.

The survey received more than 28-hundred reports from people who felt the 10-56 a.m. quake. Scientists say it was the largest and most widely felt of more than a dozen earthquakes recorded in the region in three decades.

The most prevalent vibration, which lasted about 20 seconds, was felt on the gulf coast of Florida and in southern Georgia. But residents in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana also called in reports. (They actually evacuated visitors from the local hospital. I didn't feel anything. I was too busy getting ready for church. I must have been in la-la land.)

Anyway, stay tuned as Gordon becomes something and Florence moves on.

~Dewdrop