Houston Chronicle Editorial - Explosive Growth Of Humberto Delivers A Warning

[hatrack]

EDIT

Luckily for Houstonians, as the storm revved up to 85 miles per hour it curved to the east, taking its damaging winds and torrential rains with it. In a rare instance, authorities did not have time to issue hurricane watches or warnings until just before landfall. As with Hurricane Rita two years ago, the residents of the more sparsely populated coast near the Texas-Louisiana border bore the brunt of the storm. As National Hurricane Center senior forecaster James Franklin noted in an advisory on Humberto, "No tropical cyclone in the historical record has ever reached this intensity at a faster rate near landfall. It would be nice to know ... someday ... why this happened."

Climatologists are debating whether hotter oceans generated by man-made global warming are fueling more intense cyclones. Although only half over, this season is providing intriguing evidence. In addition to Humberto's spectacular intensification, Hurricane Felix likewise went into the record books by exploding from a tropical depression to the strongest Category 5 in the Caribbean in just over two days.

Likewise, Felix and another storm, Dean, are the only two Category 5 hurricanes on record to make landfall in the Atlantic basin the same year. Such unprecedented developments will doubtless bolster the theories of some scientists that the increasing heat of the water nurturing these storms is promoting faster growth and stronger winds.

Whatever the cause, the latest tropical twister should teach residents never to take for granted a developing storm, whether or not it is forecast to reach dangerous levels. As the Chronicle's SciGuy, Eric Berger, noted in his blog, "Humberto provides a good reminder that tropical systems often will do what they want, not what we think they will do. Our ability to forecast hurricanes leaves room for desire, and new research into these powerful systems should be amply funded."

EDIT

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/5133650.html

[kestrel91316]

1. Gee, I can't for the life of me figure out why this might have happened:

"....No tropical cyclone in the historical record has ever reached this intensity at a faster rate near landfall....."

kestrel scratching her head.........

What did they say the water temps were like in the Gulf these days??

[enid602]

2. Bush

With subsidence due to development and well water pumping, isn't much of Houston under sea level these days? Guess we know why Bush hought his retirement home up near Dallas.