Prospero

So happy for an early and interesting storm to track this summer. From excitement to boredom, and back again, and then not, so on. The images have been entertaining to watch, the discussions fascinating, and even here on the west coast of Florida we've had a couple bands come through enough for me to stand out in the rain feeling "Tropical Storm Isaias" for real, as if I were on the Weather Channel exaggerating the breeze with a big silly grin on my face. And yet a few days to go to watch and listen to current analyzation and predictions by pros and amateurs, and plain ol' simple storm nuts like me with Isaias. Looking forward to an exciting 2020 season. Give me crazy weather over COVID or politics any day for news and information. Whew! I was ready for a break.

It's a perfect beach day on Florida's west coast: Live Clearwater Beach Cam

Twin swirls, yea. Hey at least this has been a great lesson on wind shear and levels of circulation. I've learned something.

48 mph gust at Ft. Lauderdale Beach at 10:30 PM, the strongest of the day so far. My Cuban wife is teaching me how to pronounce Isaias, I think I have it down, “Ee sah ee oss”.

I'm imagining an eye forming on IR, but I'm no met. Weather channel definitely downplayed the convention "thunderstorms" and seemed to suggest the hurricane planes were not even looking into it. But I think they did say the strongest winds were in it.

That decoupled convection even has some spiral effect on radar.

I'm relating to swirling bubbles in a bubble bath when the actual whirlpool has broken away from the bubbles near the drain...

Question: So the rotation in the convection is "decoupled" from Isaias. Does the circulation have its own potential to form an eye or would it just drift away on its own?

Interesting decoupling, I gotta say that.

A tease can be more enjoyable than a for certain given. But it can lead to more disappointments. On the other hand, it can be a thrill at the end.

OK, who is the first? Rapid intensification and a Cat 2 or 3 by midnight? Ummm, not me unless it happens, then I was first. LOL

Yea, big. It's still drenching us on the Gulf Coast of Florida. The entire Gulf is involved with a lot of moisture. I'm expecting more rain than they expect over the next few days in Texas. Pull out the kayaks...

Here in Gulfport, FL, we have had just over 4 inches of rain and gusts to 44 mph. The Gulf is splashing over the seawall, and a few trees down. Basic Palm and Oak tree debris is scattered about, with some power outages. But nothing too extreme. It's been totally dry for a while, so the rain is welcome. These late season tropical systems are usually our only source of rain from September until the cold fronts come down in November. It is about high tide on Clearwater Beach and you can see the water is high, the surf tumbling, but not quite up to the dunes. After midnight it will be a little higher, but the winds are dying down so may not be higher than now (6:20 pm on Saturday, October 19): Clearwater Beach Live Webcam For us in the Tampa Bay area, this is likely the storm of the season. It's not without a tornado and several homes and businesses destroyed, but not bad for a typical hurricane season.

Wind is getting a little stiff at Calibogue Sound.

On the west coast of Florida on Clearwater Beach, this afternoon has been the peak of this storm. We have had a steady 25 to 29 mph winds with a few gusts over 32 mph today since about noon. We are a couple hundred miles away from the eye in the southwest quadrant, but feel the cyclone even here. It's not a big deal, but noticeable for sure. The surf is kicking up, but nothing like the east coast of Florida. Here is a link to our live beach cam: Clearwater Beach Live Webcam in HD If you check out the cam, we are setting up for a beautiful sunset again tonight. Also notice the beach is mostly deserted. Many visitors cancelled last week 5 to 6 days out with all the media attention, but it has been gorgeous here all weekend. Today is the peak of Dorian effects.