I have lived in central Florida for over 20 years. There is an Orlando weather weather forecaster we have watched in the past. Depending on how he is dressed we have an idea how bad it will be.

During his forecast it goes something like this-
If he has a jacket and tie on we are okay, no big deal.
If the jacket comes off time to start watching and basic getting ready.
If the jacket and tie comes off now we are getting serious, time to board up.
If the jacket,tie are off shirt sleeve are rolled up we are in trouble.

We kind of joke about it but he has been right over the years and he is the one we watch.

My wife and I are well prepared before the season starts.
Several cases of water and non perishable food,spare gas for the generator,extra batteries, the spare freezer is full of ice and frozen water bottles.
We watch the forecast and start to put thing that can fly away a few days before the possible hit.
We also help the neighbors get ready. We have a single mom on one side we board up if needed, an older gentleman across the street we give a hand to.
Last major hurricane that came through central Florida I spent more time helping the neighbors than on my own house.
It never hurts to be prepared.
Better to have the supply's and not need them than to not have them when you need them.

71 so true, darn near burned out a Hammer drill putting up boards for neighbors in the past.

Don't need a hammer drill much but have one, we have plenty of water, canned Goya goods, dry goods. Generator is tested and running.

Need to fill up the gas cans now, lawn mower needs fuel anyway, spare propane tank, make sure the whole house LP tank is filled.

The TS isn't the big problem, as said before the winds are not that significant, it's the stall and flooding that can be problematic.

There is no shame in being prepared, and getting out in front of the season is paramount.

This thread is not so much about the current storm and it's capability, as it is the first warning blast of the Hurricane season starting horn.

Seasons open for real, time to prep up so I can sit back and watch vs scurry around like most people at the last minute. Rather have light wind and rain, and be ready than not ready...

quote:

Originally posted by RHINOWSO:

Jimmy should run for State Office on the Slogan "BUILD MORE CONDOS, IT KEEPS THE HURRICANES AWAY!"

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:
Can this F'ing year get any worse?

Ah, I figured it out.

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:
But it will bring lots of rainy weather and wind and probably will interrupt power to many houses and some downed trees.

Dude, I don't know how the power delivery is where you are in South Florida, but here in Central Florida, I can't even get through an afternoon shower without losing power for hours. Hence the reason I have a 20kw stand alone gen set and a 500 gallon full propane tank in the ground. I find it interesting you're still out of stuff in South Florida. Up here, inventories are just about back to normal on virtually everything.

As a Central Floridian since 1989, what I cannot believe about this season is that as of today, July 29th, we are already on the letter I.

Back in the nasty 2004 season, Hurricane Charley hit August 13th.

I hope they keep staying small, weak and / or away from us like they have been doing so far.

Got ya on all the work Jimmy. We had a potential depression up here a few weeks back.
Had to bring one of the Intrepids from the boss's house on Destin harbor and tie it up outside the boathouse. Then when I moved the big boat out, a friend moved the Intrepid inside the boathouse then we tied up the big boat outside.
Get all the power hooked up to the big boat and then start clearing the dock off, including my Spot Zero that I built in to a dock box and plumbed into a separate set of pipes on the dock.
Then everything in reverse afterwards. Plus hose all the grass and pine needles off the dock at least twice.
Plus clearing off the dock at his house on the bayou.
I kept evreything to a minimum on the dock after that one to save a little time in the future.

quote:

As a Central Floridian since 1989, what I cannot believe about this season is that as of today, July 29th, we are already on the letter I.

Back in the nasty 2004 season, Hurricane Charley hit August 13th.

^^^^^^^^^^^^
The busiest year on record was 2005 when we got to the Greek alphabet. We are ahead of that pace for the moment.

This storm looks like it wants to drift west into the gulf. We'll see if that trend continues.

quote:

Originally posted by BBMW:
This storm looks like it wants to drift west into the gulf. We'll see if that trend continues.

I'm good with that, we've had plenty of rain

quote:

Originally posted by holdem:
As a Central Floridian since 1989, what I cannot believe about this season is that as of today, July 29th, we are already on the letter I.

That’s because the media started naming everything that came down the pike a few years ago......used to be they were not named until they became a tropical storm...now they name them as soon as it looks like it is circling and rolls off the west coast of Africa......

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:

quote:

Originally posted by holdem:
As a Central Floridian since 1989, what I cannot believe about this season is that as of today, July 29th, we are already on the letter I.

That’s because the media started naming everything that came down the pike a few years ago......used to be they were not named until they became a tropical storm...now they name them as soon as it looks like it is circling and rolls off the west coast of Africa......

Yup - For the same reason they know use the term BOMB CYCLONE and name every Winter Storm that produces snow... So everything thinks THE END IS NEAR unless we buy into whatever the Climate Redistribution plan is called this year.

That’s because the media started naming everything that came down the pike a few years ago......used to be they were not named until they became a tropical storm...now they name them as soon as it looks like it is circling and rolls off the west coast of Africa....
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
That is incorrect. Tropical systems are not named until they become tropical storms. They were all female names until 1979.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:

That’s because the media started naming everything that came down the pike a few years ago......used to be they were not named until they became a tropical storm...now they name them as soon as it looks like it is circling and rolls off the west coast of Africa......

I think it still has to reach tropical storm intensity with sustained winds of 39mph to receive a name. While they (weather people) may project a name for a storm, if that storm does not reach 39mph, then the name is used again for the next storm, it does not go away.

quote:

Originally posted by BOATTRASH1:
Got ya on all the work Jimmy. We had a potential depression up here a few weeks back.
Had to bring one of the Intrepids from the boss's house on Destin harbor and tie it up outside the boathouse. Then when I moved the big boat out, a friend moved the Intrepid inside the boathouse then we tied up the big boat outside.
Get all the power hooked up to the big boat and then start clearing the dock off, including my Spot Zero that I built in to a dock box and plumbed into a separate set of pipes on the dock.
Then everything in reverse afterwards. Plus hose all the grass and pine needles off the dock at least twice.
Plus clearing off the dock at his house on the bayou.
I kept evreything to a minimum on the dock after that one to save a little time in the future.

Yup, it seems to never end. Got all the patio and pool furniture from the 10k square foot house I manage inside, got the 32' whaler full boat cover and other canvas off, then double tied a 48' express and 50' express my's and did 2 service checks on the 48' express and a 40' tiara today. It didn't help that it was 91F.

Tomorrow I have to secure 4 yachts for a global builder's US headquarters.....MarXXXXX.....then run a 85' Princess down the New River from the yard, then have a 62' Sunseeker and 66' Sunseeker left......hope to bang out the 62' Predator tomorrow. Then the 66' is only 1/2 a mile from my house......but it's a MotherF......a million cushions, 3 sided enclosure, 4 different tables with leafs to tie, retractable soft sunroof I have to crosstie lines over. Everything has tight fitting stamoid covers from P+R canvas, so I might just tape the bottoms of those, open the enclosure, and let it ride since it's so close to my house, leaving it till last......

My house is super easy (Thank God). I did all impact windows and doors about 4 years ago, it also has the permanent locking accordian type that open to the sides dade county approved shutters on all the windows too (won't deploy them for this), don't have much stuff outside, can knock it out in less than 45 mins.......

That things is gonna blow out to sea...

quote:

Originally posted by RHINOWSO:
That things is gonna blow out to sea...

Who knows, you can't count on it going out to sea. First they moved the track further West to the Gulf, then this morning shifted it East to the Florida Atlantic coast, then later further east over the Bahamas......Hopefully it does go out to sea or gets broken up.

BUT, now they are saying it will be a category 1 hurricane instead of a TS.

Andrew was a Category 1 and supposed to go out to sea, and in the last 24 hours turned into almost a CAT 5, turned and creamed Miami.

With the yachts you can't leave it to chance. I wrote the hurricane plan on all these yachts that I manage. Boat yards charge around a $10k annual fee for a guaranteed haul out space on a 60'er or so, just to guarantee you a space. And, those spaces are very limited. All of the ones I manage/maintain are in the water, secured in their normal slips.

If things aren't done to the Hurricane plan they won't cover it and the deductible on a lot of them is somewhere in the neighborhood of $50k-100k. You can chew that up with the just the cushions, covers, and clear plastic (strataglass or EZ2CY) flybridge enclosure on many of them. Then there also is the fact that every insurance company asks if you've ever had any insurance losses...... before they'll cover you as Captain on the policy......its a HUGE blemish and costs a fortune in lost future income. Not to mention, NO owner wants any damage on his shiny multi-million $ toy. Everyone here has been busy moving and securing yachts since about Wednesday and preparing. You can't wait until the last minute, because it's impossible to prepare the yacht and properly tie it when the winds blowing 40 mph or more.......The horse has already left the barn then.

I got so scurred that I ran all the way to west Texas.

I’m with jimmy on this. After Andrew, I prep for anything approaching a tropical storm. We have several days notice, why not use them to prepare?

Yes, 9/10 times your prep isn’t needed, hell 99/100, but that one time will hurt more than you believe.

There’s similar arguments for/against CCW. Might as well prepare!

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:

It's schedule to come ashore Saturday afternoon

https://weather.com/storms/hur...ast?cm_ven=hp-slot-1

From the linked website: "It's too early to know what impacts this system might bring to any other land areas, including the United States."

SON, YOU BEST TAKE HEED AND STOCK UP!!!! Otherwise, you may find yourself in a PICKLE without any CLAUSSEN PICKLES. Or possibly up Schitt's creek without any TOILET PAPER. Son, you always runnin outta the essentials, when it aint even raining outside!!! Didn't your momma teach you about inventory control and to stock up for a rainy day???? You seem lost without momma.