STORM GUIDE All the Information You Need for the Upcoming Season
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2017 STORM GUIDE All the information you need for the upcoming season A PUBLICATION OF THE 2 Sunday, May 28, 2017 | STORM GUIDE | www.ocala.com NEW HOME 2017 STORM Hurricane Hunters settle in at Lakeland airport GUIDE: INSIDE Page 3 $17.5M construction project whole new building to house its nine aircraft of Lakeland Linder, the WHY HAVE WE BEEN except for two walls and while allowing easy exit reconstruction project SO LUCKY? A climatic By Christopher Guinn Gene Conrad said. “It’s a roof over the office,” to any of them without was already underway. quirk seems to be The Ledger moving at light speed.” Conrad said. The hangar, having to move more The contract for slightly shielding the About 60 to 80 work- once 32 feet tall, is than two other planes out designing the facil- U.S. coast during busy LAKELAND — The ers are on the site each now 60 feet, and could of the way. ity was awarded to the hurricane seasons. new home base for the day, Conrad said, accommodate larger air- But those requirements Lakeland-based Lunz National Oceanic and completing the $17.5 craft like the C-130. have been relatively easy Group in September. Page 4 Atmospheric Admin- million project that is The project has some to meet, Conrad said, Lakeland-based Reg- THE INFO YOU NEED: istration’s Hurricane less renovation than unique requirements. for instance, by putting ister Construction was Check our easy-to- Hunters at Lakeland reconstruction. NOAA’s base at Lake- hangar doors along two selected as the construc- keep list of important Linder Regional Airport NOAA is covering land Linder will be more walls. tion manager in early telephone numbers is on schedule to meet about $4.5 million of than a hangar and some The hardest thing November. and websites. the 2017 Atlantic hur- the cost and the state is offices — a science lab, about the project has A news conference ricane season, airport taking on $6.5 million. operational hub and been the timeline, he with NOAA and city offi- Page 8 officials said. Lakeland Linder is cover- maintenance shop will be said. cials took place with the MAKING A LIST: What “We started Dec. ing another $6.5 million. included. He got the first call gutted facility and heavy to do before the 5,” Airport Manager “Essentially it’s a The Hurricane Hunters from the U.S. Depart- machinery as a backdrop. storm? What to do also needed the hangar ment of Commerce, Typically the window after the storm? NOAA’s parent agency, for design is between in February saying the three and six months for Page 12 science and weather this kind of project, said ABOUT THAT CONE: group was leaving Mac- architect Brad Lunz of Widespread misun- Dill Air Force Base and the Lunz Group. derstanding about needed a place to set up, “This has been a real the “cone of uncer- Conrad said. fluid process,” he said tainty” has prompted “As a timeline, that’s as the team adapted to forecasters to try to insane,” he said. supply and time realities, improve the tool. The gambit proposed like by having Lakeland by Conrad and his senior and Texas-based GMF Editor’s note: Many staff members, and Structural to design of these stories are approved by the City custom trusses to cross being published at Commission, has worked the vast hangar space ocala.com as of May out. By the time NOAA rather than order pre- 28. The online ver- announced its selection engineered pieces. sions include links to additional material and resources. Publisher: Jim Doughton Executive Editor and General Manager: Doug Ray Storm Guide Editor: Jim Ross Designer: Center for News and Design Published by the Ocala Star-Banner 2121 SW 19th Avenue Road Ocala, FL 34471 352-671-6412 jim.ross@starbanner. com STORM GUIDE | www.ocala.com | Sunday, May 28, 2017 3 ‘CLIMACTIC QUIRK’ Scientist fi nds shield that helps U.S. Shifts in air and ocean conditions over decades have work together to weaken major storms along the coast. By Seth Borenstein “It’s a lucky byprod- The Associated Press uct for the United States coast,” Kossin said. “It’s WASHINGTON — A really unfortunate that climatic quirk seems to we’re the only ones that be slightly shielding the seem to be benefiting from U.S. coast during busy this situation.” hurricane seasons, often The Atlantic Ocean weakening major storms seems to alternate A girl watches as the authori- just as they approach between cycles of heavy ties arrive to evacuate people America’s beaches, a new and low hurricane activ- from her house in Tabarre, study finds. ity. The current heavy Haiti, on Oct. 3. The center That could help explain cycle began in 1993, after of Hurricane Matthew was why it’s been more than 11 a low period of more than expected to pass near or over years since a major hur- two decades. During those southwestern Haiti the next ricane with winds of more quieter times, when a day, but the area already was than 110 mph has hit the major hurricane forms in experiencing rain from the United States mainland. the Atlantic it is three to outer bands of the storm. [AP Last year’s Hurricane six times more likely to PHOTO/DIEU NALIO CHERY] Matthew was a perfect rapidly intensify near the example of this uniquely U.S. coast than during the in high altitude cross- American “protec- busier times, according to winds — called wind shear tive barrier” of stronger the study. — that tear at a storm’s crosswinds and cooler Kossin mapped sea structure. It also found coastal waters, accord- surface temperatures slightly cooler sea sur- ing to the study’s author, and wind shear levels in face temperatures, which climate scientist Jim the Atlantic to see small reduce a hurricane’s fuel Kossin of the National changes near the U.S. of hot water. The changes Oceanic and Atmospheric coast — but only during seem to be just a function Administration. a busy cycle. His study of larger natural condi- Matthew devastated found a localized increase tions, he said. Haiti as a monster storm, hitting land with 145 mph winds. It threatened Florida as a major hur- ricane and then fizzled as it finally came ashore in South Carolina, barely registering as a hurricane with 75 mph winds. Kossin’s study, pub- lished in the journal Nature, found that shifts in air and ocean condi- tions over decades work together to weaken major storms along the U.S. coast. This protective barrier begins around the U.S.-Mexico border in Brownsville, Texas, and gets more noticeable around the Atlantic coast, Kossin said. 4 Sunday, May 28, 2017 | STORM GUIDE | www.ocala.com TIME TO PLAN * There is a 34 percent for the CLIP N' SAVE Caribbean to see a hurricane, IMPORTANT NUMBERS down from the historic average All eyes on El Nino of 42 percent. FOR STORM SEASON AccuWeather experts agree, stating there will be 10 named To register people who have special The hurricane-wrecking phenomenon will storms. The 30-year average is needs: Call Marion County Emer- determine what kind of season we have gency Management at 369-8136. 12 named storms. In 2016, there To report road fl ooding: were 15 named storms, includ- By Joe Callahan residents need to be prepared + Marion County: 671-8686 ing seven hurricanes (four of Staff writer no matter what experts predict. + City of Ocala: 629-CITY (2489) which were major Category 3 All it takes is one hurricane to + City of Belleview: 245-7021 hurricanes). El Nino could help stifle strike this region and it will be a + City of Dunnellon: 465-8590 Though the official Atlantic hurricane activity during the significant season For non-emergency police assistance: hurricane season runs from June 2017 Atlantic hurricane season, National Hurricane Center + Marion County Sheriff's Offi ce: through November, storms experts believe, though the and National Weather Service 732-9111 sometimes form outside that timing of when the hurricane- experts have always pointed + Ocala Police Department: A news reporter doing a stand up time. In fact, on April 19, Tropi- wrecking phenomenon forms to the 1992 hurricane season. 369-7070 near a sea wall in Cedar Key was cal Storm Arlene formed and will ultimately determine That year, the first hurricane + Belleview Police Department: covered by an unexpected wave fizzled out. whether Florida will get some did not form until Aug. 16. That 245-7044 days; 732-9111 nights as Hurricane Hermine neared the In the end, officials note that tropical systems and how many. hurricane was named Andrew, + Dunnellon Police Department: Florida coast on Sept. 1. Hermine Florida could use some tropical The problem is that there is one of the most powerful to ever 465-8510 was the first direct hit on the state activity. only a 55 percent chance that El hit the United States. It caused Public information lines: from a hurricane in over a decade. “A tropical system, without Nino will develop between July $26.5 billion in damage, or more + Marion County Emergency Man- [AP PHOTO/JOHN RAOUX] the wind and surge, would be and December. El Nino occurs than $45 billion in 2017 dollars. agement Offi ces: 369-8100 helpful because of the drought,” when ocean water is warmer “Everyone needs to prepare 2002, which had slightly below- + Marion County Citizens Informa- Hess noted. “The Florida penin- than normal in the central as if that this will be the busiest average hurricane activity, tion Line: 369-7500 sula is on fire.” and eastern tropical Pacific.