Ooops! Scientist Eric Blake @NHC_Atlantic accidentally spawns "fake news" at MSN

From the HEAD LINES MATTER department. Sometimes you just have to shake your head and wonder, did you know what you just said?

Case in point, Eric Blake, from the National Hurricane Center (NHC) tweeted September 7th:

And that Tweet  has the takeaway “Never seen anything like this in the modern record” and spawned this story from MSN, quoting Blake: Note the headline using his takeaway phrase slightly modified.

The lead-in to that story reads:

For the first time in modern history, three hurricanes in the Atlantic are lined up in the most dangerous of ways, according to Eric Blake, a hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center.

Here’s where that takeway from Blake runs off the rails. Recall back in 2010 we had a trio of hurricanes that looks very much like what Blake claimed was a first by saying “Never seen anything like this in the modern record”.

In 2010, three hurricanes churned in the Atlantic Basin, Karl, (left in the Gulf), Hurricane Igor (center), which struck Bermuda as a Category 1 storm and then later the Canadian island of Newfoundland as a tropical cyclone, according to the National Hurricane Center, and Julia (right).

According to Blake’s Twitter exchange, after “Yannick” brought up that image from 2010, Blake says he’s only referencing a trio of hurricanes that “threaten land”:

Distorted to make it look similar? He’s spinning, and Ellen Bemben is right. Blake said in his initial tweet with the three images:

Never seen anything like this in the modern record #Irma#Jose#Katia

MSN picked up on it, and now we have a “fake news” headline about three hurricanes that is inaccurate in the context it presents.

The issue is that Hurricane Jose in the 2017 image is affecting the Leeward Islands, where Julia in 2010 did not., (save for some rain and winds on the Cape Verde islands)  NHC has issued Jose advisories for Land effects on the Leward Islands, but has cancelled other warnings, and there’s no threat to the U.S.

Many people on Twitter and other social media equated “land” to be the USA, they don’t think about tiny islands like the Leeward Islands, most couldn’t even point them out on a map. People just don’t see the fine distinction about the “threatening land” because from their perspective, all the hurricanes are a threat, and they think “USA”, not Leeward islands. It really doesn’t enter into their thought process at all.

While Blake is technically correct about the “threatening land” part of his tweet, the takeway phrase is the one that got “legs” and is running the opposite direction he intended.

And, now that image from Yannick comparing three Atlantic Hurricanes in 2010 and 2017 is getting heavy play on social media, and Blake is being excoriated for the headline thanks to the law of unintended consequences.

Blake would do well to simply say he made a mistake, or didn’t choose his words carefully, and notify MSN so they can correct the headline. Despite his claims on his Twitter profile (bold mine)…

NHC scientist, CSU/ULM alum, vegan runner, Tweets weather hurricanes El Niño/La Niña climate pets politics frogs-My personal opinions only, NOT my employer’s!

…I’d bet that NHC would want to correct this word blunder, as they strive to be factual. MSN connects Blake and NHC in their article, so his caveat is for naught.


UPDATE: I put this story on hold yesterday, because he’s made an honest mistake and I was pretty sure he’d correct it so the headline would get fixed. I had hoped someone at NHC or professional acquaintances would nudge Blake, and he’d work to correct the misconception. Nope. I contacted Blake today on Twitter, and he wasn’t at all receptive:

Oh, well I tried. BTW, those are not all the exchanges, just a few I had with him. I really did try to help, he wouldn’t have it.

The ego is not master in its own house. -Sigmund Freud

We did agree on one thing though:

ADDED: For perspective, in 1998, there were FOUR hurricanes in the Atlantic at once.

See: https://weather.com/storms/hurricane/news/four-hurricanes-once-atlantic-basin-20130925

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September 9, 2017 1:09 pm

Ah, the entrenchment effect. If in error, auger in ever deeper.

SC
Reply to  Max Photon
September 9, 2017 2:31 pm

In retrospect it might have been better to redefine “modern record” to mean less than 5 years.

Curious George
Reply to  SC
September 9, 2017 2:51 pm

He is taking himself seriously but not literally.

Greg
Reply to  SC
September 9, 2017 3:22 pm

He would do better to recognise that the fact of whether they are all in a position to “threaten land” at any one time is not significant to how usual/unusual this kind of alignment is, rather than using that as his get out clause.

Greg
Reply to  SC
September 9, 2017 3:25 pm

Eric Blake
Replying to
Tons of hurricane records are set in many years. I think some are assuming this is climate change- and they would be wrong
=========
Unfortunately that is exactly impression have gave.

Bryan A
Reply to  Max Photon
September 9, 2017 2:41 pm

Another interesting similarity is that the “K” hurricane is in the Gulf and churning around Veracruz, the “I” hurricane is the largest of the 3 and between the “K” and “J” storms and the “J” hurricane is farthest east.
In both cases the alphabetical l J K are ordered K I J

RAH
Reply to  Max Photon
September 9, 2017 4:35 pm

In pilot terminology to “auger in” is to crash and burn.

Joe Crawford
Reply to  RAH
September 10, 2017 5:14 am

We use to jokingly call it PGI (i.e., Plain Ground Interference) :<)

Michael 2
Reply to  RAH
September 13, 2017 6:56 pm

Especially in a flat spin where the vertical profile looks like an auger.

Pop Piasa
Reply to  Max Photon
September 9, 2017 8:15 pm

Max, OSHA should require a virtual trench box for tweets like his.

lifeisthermal
Reply to  Max Photon
September 10, 2017 6:14 am

I like your name. Max Photon, the superhero. With big guns. Shooting big photons.

Janice Moore
September 9, 2017 1:15 pm

…. accidentally ….

??
Re:
Sometimes you just have to shake your head and wonder, did you know what you just said?
Giving Mr. Blake the benefit of the doubt in this case is nonsense.
It is obvious from the testimonial record (see above “tweets”) that Mr. Blake knew exactly what he just said — and why.

Pop Piasa
Reply to  Janice Moore
September 9, 2017 8:35 pm

He just hoped his power and influence in the progressive’s “new science” industry might deter any fact based disagreements. Then he justified his alarmism using a questionable qualifier of the validity of his original statement.
Seems that Twitter proves “sometimes it’s best to leave unsaid, the things that pop into your head” for a number of influential people.

James Francisco
Reply to  Pop Piasa
September 10, 2017 6:57 am

Pop. Seems to me you and Janice nailed it.

GW
September 9, 2017 1:19 pm

I seem to a recall an image from the 2000’s – perhaps the busy years of 04 or 05 – (not sure) where there were actually four cyclones in the pipeline – from the Cape Verde region to the Gulf.

Latitude
September 9, 2017 1:19 pm

Jump to the left….no jump back to the right…now jump left again…..now try to jump back right when there’s no where to go everything is full……and they have the nerve to talk about how beautiful it is blah blah…and write your SS number on your arm
Everyone is sopissed they can’t see straight

Reply to  Latitude
September 9, 2017 1:38 pm

25 degrees N, Hi there
Good to hear from you, hope you are not in the keys.

Latitude
Reply to  vukcevic
September 9, 2017 2:12 pm

Hey vuk, we’re in Hernando…of course went to Naples first on the recommendation of the NHC
..no one can get to the east coast now, it’s full
Has to be over 20 million evaced or on the road now….and that’s not counting tourists
I75 north of Tampa was a parking lot…took 41 backroads was clear and had a great drive up
Getting back might be impossible….

Latitude
Reply to  vukcevic
September 9, 2017 2:13 pm

..and house looks to be in the clear also…it’s built for more than that

Reply to  vukcevic
September 9, 2017 2:46 pm

let’s hope you will not need to move further north in a day or two.

Reply to  Latitude
September 9, 2017 4:08 pm

Latitude,
I am here in Orlando. Friends up north called and asked why I was not on the road headed to Tennessee or further north. Well, because I don’t want to be in a car stuck on the road when a major cane got to me. I want to at least be in a house (where I am now).
If I was on the coast, I would have left days ago and might be to the state line by now. (or stranded without gas, who knows)
It is not easy when 5 million plus people all decided to head north at the same time.

Latitude
Reply to  markstoval
September 9, 2017 4:42 pm

Mark, look at wind on ventusky….I don’t see anything to worry about up here. I don’t think you would ever get out of Wildwood right now, if what I saw on 75 is any indication….and you’re right there’s no gas, anywhere that I can find.
It’s a lot more than 5 million….they have that number from what they called mandatory areas….There’s a lot more than that from nonmandatory and tourists. I would guess closer to 10

James Francisco
Reply to  Latitude
September 10, 2017 8:24 am

All that back an forth chaos due mostly to faulty computer models. Seems like it would be a good time for the news media (at least those without a CAGW/NWO agenda) to point out the model errors made when forecasting only days ahead let alone decades and the resultant chaos due to these errors. They have caused many people to run into the path of the storm.

ClimateOtter
September 9, 2017 1:20 pm

So Newfoundland and its’ population are what, chopped liver?

Reply to  ClimateOtter
September 9, 2017 1:27 pm

It’s its.

ClimateOtter
Reply to  Max Photon
September 9, 2017 1:29 pm

You’re right!

ClimateOtter
Reply to  Max Photon
September 9, 2017 1:30 pm

Darn it. Can’t even make a bad joke…

Reply to  Max Photon
September 9, 2017 3:22 pm

“Your rite” perhaps, otter?

Reply to  Max Photon
September 9, 2017 3:22 pm

Sometimes it’s’es’ just donesn’t matter. 😎
(Best advice I ever heard regarding keeping “it’s” (contraction of “it is” )vs “its” (third person possessive) is to think of “his” and “hers”.

Roger Knights
Reply to  Max Photon
September 9, 2017 4:31 pm

My tip is to remember “never possessive!” (E.g., you can say “Tom’s cat” but you can’t say “it’s cat”.)

Reply to  ClimateOtter
September 9, 2017 1:40 pm

Seal flippers

u.k.(us)
Reply to  climateadj
September 9, 2017 2:13 pm

Seal flipper pie.

Sixto
Reply to  ClimateOtter
September 9, 2017 2:14 pm

Chopped baby seal liver.

Sixto
Reply to  Sixto
September 9, 2017 2:18 pm

Question:comment image
Answer:
You’re not a polar bear, so not enough people care about you.

RockribbedTrumpkin
Reply to  Sixto
September 9, 2017 2:45 pm

Since Miami will not be in the path let’s go clubbing tonight

Sixto
Reply to  Sixto
September 9, 2017 2:47 pm
Sixto
Reply to  Sixto
September 9, 2017 2:55 pm

Can’t believe that babe rated Mango’s only Número nueve.

Greg
Reply to  Sixto
September 9, 2017 3:28 pm

That is probably a PETA activist killing seals to spare them from being eaten by polar bears.

Sixto
Reply to  Sixto
September 9, 2017 3:36 pm

Or a Warmunista trying to starve the polar bears to death in order to further the Party Line narrative.
Not that polar bears eat many baby harp seals. Ringed seal pups, yes. As many as they can pop down to slake their spring hunger.

SC
Reply to  ClimateOtter
September 9, 2017 2:57 pm

Igor was even more devastating to Baffin Island than to Newfoundland. To this day not a single tree over 3 meters was left standing.
Great story there including the global warming hurricane threat to polar bears if he can just bypass the whole meridional air flows influencing global climate connection thing.
http://kiggavik.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341c4e2b53ef0133f48d8cdf970b-800wi

Ellen
Reply to  SC
September 9, 2017 6:36 pm

They have trees on Baffin Island?

Reply to  SC
September 10, 2017 10:12 am

I wouldn’t have thought Baffin Island would have had any tree over 3 m before Igor. Maybe I’m wrong.

StandupPhilosopher
September 9, 2017 1:24 pm

As if we knew in 2010 the future tracks of those hurricanes when that picture was taken, just as we know the future tracks of the present hurricanes.

Janice Moore
September 9, 2017 1:32 pm

Blake learned from the best:

(youtube — Al Gore lying his head off. Again.)
Keep that ol’ Ivanpah and other solar sc@m (and wind sc@m) money a comin’. (Notice how Al Gore pours on the “countreh bo-ih” accent to patronize the commercial crab fisherman in the video. Had me fooled — NOT. lol)

Reply to  Janice Moore
September 9, 2017 2:10 pm

Sounds like an Inconvenient Truth.

Curious George
Reply to  Janice Moore
September 9, 2017 2:56 pm

Al Gore looks rather prosperous.

Sixto
Reply to  Curious George
September 9, 2017 3:02 pm

He has taken over from Ted Kennedy the role of human manatee.

Sixto
Reply to  Curious George
September 9, 2017 3:02 pm

Make that humanoid.

Reply to  Curious George
September 9, 2017 3:26 pm

Or pompous, because he is prosperous!

jorgekafkazar
Reply to  Curious George
September 9, 2017 7:04 pm

“O, the huge manatee!”

Sixto
Reply to  Curious George
September 9, 2017 7:10 pm

http://www.xavier.edu/manateeresearch/images/maleanatomy.JPG
Seeking a massage with happy finish, like fat Prince Albert.

Chip
September 9, 2017 1:32 pm

When did our sober, cautious and dull scientists turn into hysterical schoolgirls?
Maybe it’s just climate scientists. Too little knowledge and too much attention don’t mix well.

Reply to  Chip
September 9, 2017 1:42 pm

that’s sexist, these days schoolboys are just as bad

Reply to  vukcevic
September 9, 2017 3:25 pm

Don’t forget that some of them are allegedly gender “neutral” or gender “fluid”! Whatever that means? Probably a triumph of rebellion over nature. Good luck with that!
A meaningful discussion is impossible when the person whom you are having a discussion with, regards their own subjective thought processes as superior, to others whose also,subjective thought processes they regard as invalid. Once the argument changes to logical and objective thinking, they are like a duck out of the water, hysteria, threats and violence dominate the “discussion.”
The Western education system and modern parental “skills” have a lot to answer for!

Pop Piasa
Reply to  vukcevic
September 9, 2017 8:59 pm

I think I heard Obummer say you could choose the schoolgender you are most comfortable with.

Ian
Reply to  vukcevic
September 10, 2017 7:04 am

Yes, that crowd’s ideology utterly fails the logic test, but seeing that coming they have decided to also reject logic (along with biology and science in general) as just another tool of oppression from the old white guys. Post Modernism and its spawn will not be good for this next generation.

Reply to  Chip
September 9, 2017 4:13 pm

Virtue signaling is in. Especially in the Age of Resistance.

Pop Piasa
Reply to  Joel O’Bryan
September 9, 2017 9:03 pm

Age of resistance, or age of anarchy?

Not Chicken Little
September 9, 2017 1:34 pm

Never before in all of history have we had so many pictures and radar images of hurricanes! If that doesn’t prove something, then nothing does! We’re all going to die, run for your lives!

Barry Sheridan
September 9, 2017 1:35 pm

Sad to see professionals refuse to acknowledge the looseness of a phrase. Correcting himself costs little.

PiperPaul
Reply to  Barry Sheridan
September 9, 2017 7:38 pm

Non load-bearing belief systems cannot withstand any questioning at all. The tiniest doubt could bring the whole mountain of sophistry crashing down. It can’t happen too soon…

J. Philip Peterson
September 9, 2017 1:37 pm

As I recall, there must be a similar image from the year of Katrina in 2005 when there were so many hurricanes one after the other. I have to look up the dates. of Katrina, Rita, Wilma, etc…

Sixto
Reply to  J. Philip Peterson
September 9, 2017 1:55 pm

IMO there were never three hurricanes “threatening” land all at the same time in 2005, despite its many strong storms.

Editor
September 9, 2017 1:53 pm

Looks like the film; “The Day After Tomorrow” transcends “An Inconvenient Truth” as the new reference work for AGW. No doubt the expression “The truth can be stranger than fiction” will also be spouted by these idiots who seem to have more grant money and publicity than brains.

Bill
September 9, 2017 1:53 pm

So, he did basically what Rush Limbaugh said, and got ripped for, five days ago. Bedwetter. Where does the swamp NOT exist? They did manage to evacuate Miami and most of south Florida to Tampa and Orlando. Good job guys!

Greg
Reply to  Bill
September 9, 2017 3:36 pm

Now the eye is predicted to pass right through Tampa!
Making predictions is tricky, especially about the future.

Bill
Reply to  Greg
September 9, 2017 9:00 pm

Holy mackerel. Looking like Rush was exactly right. Very plausible right now that, with latest track glancing very western edge of peninsula, this doesn’t even make direct landfall until the panhandle and then only as a Cat 1 after encountering both shear and dry air. Wow. Very plausible, at this moment, that evacuees, all 7 million of them, encounter hurricane conditions where they evacuated TO than where they evacuated from. Good job climate bedwetters.

drednicolson
Reply to  Greg
September 9, 2017 10:59 pm

It’s like Irma threw a left hook and they leaned into it.

DonS
Reply to  Greg
September 10, 2017 2:32 pm

Yogi would be proud.

Bill
September 9, 2017 1:55 pm

Question: what would John Hope think of this?

September 9, 2017 1:59 pm

Unprecedented Irma never seen of such magnitude in the universe before is going to sputter up the coast of Cuba losing energy all the way. Its arms are over Florida and Cuba, not the ocean. Probably sputters up to Mobile much weaker than now.

gnomish
Reply to  Donald Kasper
September 9, 2017 5:12 pm

i believe in being prepared in case nothing at all happens.
somebody’s gotta do it.

Bill
Reply to  gnomish
September 9, 2017 9:09 pm

Wholeheartedly. People didn’t need to leave 3 days ago though and could have just driven 40 miles inland towards the end, if likely threatened by the eye. Surge evacuees are one thing, but evacuees who left because they saw the wind damage in the Caribbean are something else. Climate bedwetters scared a lot of people to death. It’s very plausible right now that most evacuees will be threatened by hurricane conditions, inland tree falls and flooding where they evacuated to than where they evacuated from. Yikes!

September 9, 2017 1:59 pm

‘Mini’ nuclear reactors could help solve Britain’s energy crunch and cut a third off bills, ministers hope
“Ministers are ready to approve the swift development of a fleet of “mini” reactors to help guard against electricity shortages, as older nuclear power stations are decommissioned.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/09/09/go-ahead-mini-reactors-energy-crunch-looms/
whatever happen to the renewals?
Is this another money black hole from the exasperated taxpayers ?

Curious George
Reply to  vukcevic
September 9, 2017 3:17 pm

Let’s invent what no one has invented before. We have a budget in place. Problem solved.

Greg
Reply to  Curious George
September 9, 2017 3:42 pm

Let’s build what no one has managed to build before and call it Flamandeville, errrr, Olkiluoto 3, errr , I mean Hinckley C .

A C Osborn
Reply to  Curious George
September 10, 2017 3:39 am

Wrong, they have been building them all along, what do you think powers Nuclear Subs, Ice Breakers and Aircraft Carriers?

September 9, 2017 2:02 pm

He sounds like a politician.

Bruce Cobb
September 9, 2017 2:02 pm

I think I see the problem. It’s that pesky word “see” or “seeing” having different meanings.

Wharfplank
September 9, 2017 2:02 pm

I wish someone would point to a climate that has changed…

Catcracking
Reply to  Wharfplank
September 9, 2017 3:36 pm

I agree.
This should be one of he first questions for the red/blue team if activated.
Require the warmers to make a list of past and other climate changes that have occurred and be required to provide a written scientific documentation of each claim. Potential start of list:
More Hurricanes
More Tornadoes
More Draughts
Negative impact on Agriculture
Acceleration in sea level rise
Demise of Polar Bears

RAH
Reply to  Catcracking
September 9, 2017 5:07 pm

Add:
Ocean “acidification”
Bleaching of coral reefs
Actual reason for there not being the “pause” that even the IPCC acknowledged occurred.
Increased wildfires
Increased drought longevity and intensity

Sixto
September 9, 2017 2:10 pm

Multiple Atlantic tropical cyclones aren’t rare at all.
https://weather.com/storms/hurricane/news/three-tropical-cyclones-atlantic-2016#/!
It happened last year and in 2013, for example.
“The last time the Atlantic had three tropical cyclones active at once was Sept. 13, 2013, according to Dr. Phil Klotzbach, a tropical scientist at Colorado State University. On that day, Tropical Storm Ingrid was soaking eastern Mexico while Gabrielle and Humberto were in the Atlantic.
“It’s not uncommon to have multiple tropical cyclones active in the Atlantic simultaneously during the busiest part of the season, typically August into October. Records show that every year from 1998-2013 had three active tropical cyclones at once in the Atlantic during some point in the season.
“In fact, twice in history there were four hurricanes in the Atlantic at the same time. That occurred on Aug. 22, 1893 and Sept. 25, 1998.”
And of course we’ve all learned that 1926 had three major hurricanes at once (twice): #4 of Cat 4, September 1–21 (which didn’t hit land); #5 of Cat 2, September 10-14 (no land) and #7 of Cat 4, September 11-22, the infamous Miami Hurricane. There was also #8 of Cat 2, September 21 to October 1, but it didn’t hit land, either. It did however mean there were yet again three hurricanes after #5 dissipated.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1926_Atlantic_hurricane_season#Hurricane_Four
Nothing is happening now that hasn’t always happened, and worse.

Sixto
Reply to  Sixto
September 9, 2017 2:43 pm

Of course Eric Blake might object that only one of those four 1998 hurricanes threatened land.

climatereason
Editor
September 9, 2017 2:17 pm

When did the ‘modern record’ begin?
Tonyb

Sixto
Reply to  climatereason
September 9, 2017 2:18 pm

After whenever the last such image was available.

Sandy In Limousin
Reply to  climatereason
September 9, 2017 2:26 pm

Those images suggest 2011 was the start of the current decade and the modern record.

climatereason
Editor
Reply to  Sandy In Limousin
September 9, 2017 2:44 pm

Sandy
Presumably they have been monitoring them in this fashion during the satellite era? Around 1979 or so?
Presumably no one would ever attempt to make those claims if the modern record started only in 2011?
Tonyb

Sixto
Reply to  Sandy In Limousin
September 9, 2017 3:06 pm

First WX satellite was in 1959, but didn’t provide much useful info. It was followed by two other not very successful experiments. The first successful WX satellite was TIROS-1, launched by NASA on April Fools’ Day, 1960.

Sixto
Reply to  Sandy In Limousin
September 9, 2017 3:08 pm

Then the Nimbus program during the ’60s improved effectiveness.

climatereason
Editor
Reply to  Sandy In Limousin
September 9, 2017 3:18 pm

So, basically the modern ‘record’ started around the time of the Beatles?
Tonyb

Sixto
Reply to  Sandy In Limousin
September 9, 2017 3:31 pm

Tony,
Maybe around the time of “Yellow Submarine”, since Nimbus 3 might have been the first satellite with capabilities comparable to today’s.
Here’s a shot of Camille from 16 Aug 1969:comment image
But I could be wrong about that. Maybe comparable imagery existed previously.
Note though that sea ice extent was observed in the ’60s, too.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimbus_program#Sea_ice

Sandy In Limousin
Reply to  Sandy In Limousin
September 11, 2017 12:03 am

Tonyb
You don’t do irony then?

jvcstone
Reply to  climatereason
September 9, 2017 3:01 pm

Day before yesterday. Anyone else reminded of vanGogh by those color pict. at the top???

Sixto
Reply to  jvcstone
September 9, 2017 3:09 pm

Starry Night?comment image
Hurricaney Day?

noaaprogrammer
Reply to  jvcstone
September 9, 2017 4:05 pm

Starnados in the wake of the moonado.

Reply to  jvcstone
September 9, 2017 4:17 pm

There’s always the RCP 8.5 scare story, “we’re headed for Climageddon” angle.
http://i63.tinypic.com/5tvpc0.png

Reply to  climatereason
September 9, 2017 4:26 pm

“When did the ‘modern record’ begin?”
Last Thursday I believe.

climatereason
Editor
September 9, 2017 2:29 pm

I also meant to ask what the tidal range along that coast was and whether or not we are at a time of particularly high tides?
Here in the UK we have had a couple of storms which arrived at the worst possible time at the peak of a spring high tide. It makes a difference of 9 or 10 feet in this neck of the woods
Tonyb

Sixto
Reply to  climatereason
September 9, 2017 2:38 pm

A bit over 2.5 feet at Virginia Key.

climatereason
Editor
Reply to  Sixto
September 9, 2017 2:41 pm

Sixto
Thanks. So it will Make a difference if the storm hits at high tide but not a huge one. That’s a very small range
Tonyb

Sixto
Reply to  Sixto
September 9, 2017 2:44 pm

Indeed it is. Bathymetry of the Keys makes it so.

climatereason
Editor
Reply to  climatereason
September 9, 2017 3:28 pm

What a great image!
It immediately reminded me of the wonderful don Mc Clean song, ‘ Vincent’ which used the words starry night as a theme. On checking I had forgotten how deep the song was
http://www.vangoghgallery.com/painting/starrynightlyrics.html
Tonyb

Ricdre
Reply to  climatereason
September 9, 2017 5:26 pm

That was the song that immediately came to my mind also when I saw that image of the Van Gogh painting.

Reply to  climatereason
September 9, 2017 4:04 pm

It occurs to me that tidal the and geographic context of the storm is not really historically unprecedented, but the political and cultural context might be.
I swear, I think folk in the future will be writing books on this madness.
I’m surrounded by highly educated people that have lost their political and scientific minds.

September 9, 2017 2:34 pm

The Watergate break-in didn’t do Richard Nixon in, it was his lying about it that did. Fess up and move on right away. Auger in and lose isn’t a good policy.

hunter
September 9, 2017 2:34 pm

Eric is not not very graceful.
He screwed up and is too prideful to simply admit it.
The current reality does not have the distant Atlantic storm hitting land either.
The key to holes is to stop digging.
Eric seems to be a busy digger.

JBom
September 9, 2017 2:46 pm

Eric Blake is just an Obama Era Sandinista pandering to his Obama Era Vietcong Bosses and Congressional budget committees.
He should turn in his B.S. Political Science degree and go back to school to and “earn” a real degree.
Haha

Sixto
Reply to  JBom
September 9, 2017 2:50 pm

Not quite that bad. Has a Master’s Degree, with the late, great, sainted Bill Gray as adviser.
But clearly has fallen under the baleful influence of the NOAA trough-feeding consensus.
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/qa/qa_201011_eric_blake.shtml
Presumably didn’t learn how to lie from Dr. Gray.

Janice Moore
Reply to  Sixto
September 9, 2017 3:15 pm

He didn’t learn how to lie from Dr. Bill Gray and neither, apparently, did he learn his science from Dr. Gray:

Gray has taken quite a bit of political heat for insistence that global warming is not a man-made condition. Man-made carbon dioxide (CO2) is negligible, he said, compared to the amount of CO2 Mother Nature makes and disposes of each day or century.
“We’ve reached the top of the heat cycle,” he said. “The next 10 years will be hardly any warmer than the last 10 years.” [Ed. He is on track to being exactly right: UAH and RSS have shown no significant warming since he said this in 2008.] … .”

(Source: Alan Lammey, https://wattsupwiththat.com/2008/07/12/four-scientists-global-warming-out-global-cooling-in/ , quoted in WUWT 10th Anniv. anthology)

James Robbins
September 9, 2017 3:11 pm

Yesterday, I calculated at 4 pm an 18 feet storm surge from Hurricane Irma based on research articles.
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2017/09/07/monster-hurricane-irma-sat-measurements-show-it-larger-than-the-state-of-florida-is-long/
This morning I watched a Weather Channel “weather boy” who is detailed to wait out Hurricane Irma at a hotel on the west side Key West which has a average elevation of 4-7 ft (high of about 13 ft). I expect that no one will find his body, or those of the stay-behind first responders, in the floating debris field.
https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/ClimateWaterFS_MiamiFL.pdf
It appears that the maximum hurricane surge will hit Key West by 2 am Sunday morning along with tides of 2.1 ft and wave sets which will add to the water height. http://www.tides4fishing.com/us/florida-florida-keys/key-west#_tide_table
Furthermore, no place on the Keys is safe as the highest elevation is held by “Windley Key at 18 ft above sea level!”
http://www.escape-floridakeys.com/Florida-Keys-Facts.aspx
For comparison see the historical flooding on October 24, 2005 from Hurricane Wilma with a high tide of 2 ft and a storm surge of an additional 3 ft.
http://www.cityofkeywest-fl.gov/topic/subtopic.php?topicid=65&structureid=1
Irma would appear to rival the 1935 hurricane which had a storm surge plus wave set led to almost 19 ft average water level above sea level at the Lower Matecumbe Key. http://flghc.org/ppt/2014/Workshops/WS139%20Local%20Storm%20Surge/2014-FLGHC-TS23_StormSurge-Rizzo.pdf
This has nothing to do with climate change as there are hundreds of factors that go into climate changes.

dp
Reply to  James Robbins
September 9, 2017 4:23 pm

Changing weather trends inform us after analysis that the climate has changed. Climate doesn’t change first.

J. Philip Peterson
Reply to  James Robbins
September 9, 2017 4:38 pm

If any of the highway bridges between Key West and Miami fail, or are destroyed, it will be weeks/months before people can return to their homes in Key West…but let’s hope for the best… Well they could fly in…

Reply to  James Robbins
September 9, 2017 4:44 pm

Seems appropriate to drop this here (great movie!)
https://youtu.be/IYNp9SW0NYA

Sixto
Reply to  James Schrumpf
September 9, 2017 5:07 pm

Was waiting for someone to do that. I’ve posted enough audiovisuals already today.
It is a great movie, and based upon a famous hurricane.

Sixto
Reply to  James Schrumpf
September 9, 2017 5:11 pm

Both 1945 and 1947 were bad hurricane years for Florida.

Gary Pearse
September 9, 2017 3:24 pm

Interestingly: Katia-Karl, Irma-Igor, Jose–Julia, trio with same initials. Now that might even make them more “paralleled”.

RAH
September 9, 2017 3:34 pm

Joe Bastardi has posted his Saturday Summary video and the news is not good! IMO Joe and his Weatherbell team are as good as any at forecasting the track and intensity of storms. He is adamant that Irma will go north and blow back up again then come ashore in the vicinity of Port Charlotte, FL as a CAT V with wind gusts of 150 mph. Devastating.
https://www.weatherbell.com/premium/#joe-bastardi
At our vacation home in Port Charlotte the hurricane shutters are up and nobody is home but the neighbors on each side that are permanent residents have stayed. This is going to be bad, bad, bad. all along the West coast up through Tampa.

Sixto
Reply to  RAH
September 9, 2017 3:40 pm

Hope that Joe’s team for once is wrong, and that the storm drifts aimlessly across the Gulf until blowing out. But the water there is warm, so probably not much chance of that.

Reply to  RAH
September 9, 2017 4:29 pm

There is a good case to be made for Joe’s forecast on solid forecast philosophy.

J. Philip Peterson
Reply to  RAH
September 9, 2017 4:32 pm

I respect Joe Bastardi and his forecasts. He said days ago that the storm would not go up the middle of FL but go ether up the east coast or the wast coast of Florida. He seems to be right…I just hope that the intensity because of the interaction with Cuba will not be as bad as predicted…my niece lives in Key West (did not leave during Wilma, but did now thankfully). Now she is in northern FL, but may experience some major effects of the Irma…

Gregg Eshelman
September 9, 2017 3:58 pm

Then I heard the weatherman say
“Vamoose, José’s on his way”
Then I knew, yes I knew I should run
(Apologies to Jay and the Americans)

RAH
Reply to  Gregg Eshelman
September 9, 2017 4:32 pm

Joe is also forecasting that Jose is going to be a problem for the US. Thinks it will get knocked down in intensity and then strengthen again to a CAT 3. Right now he think is it likely to strike the east coast around Cape Hatteras. But that’s a good ways into the future.

Sara
Reply to  Gregg Eshelman
September 9, 2017 5:50 pm

I could not resist. Shindig was one of my favorite TV shows.

Sixto
Reply to  Sara
September 9, 2017 5:53 pm

Wow! You’re even more mature in years than I.

Steve from Rockwood
September 9, 2017 4:26 pm

I believe Mr. Blake was attempting to say indirectly that things are much worse today [because of climate change]. But after he put his sign high up in the tree, people started making fun of it. And the climb down wasn’t pretty because when you look up into the tree all you see is the bum of a man carrying down a sign he realized he probably shouldn’t have put up in the tree in the first place.

September 9, 2017 4:27 pm

Not that it matters to this exchange but Jose is now a threat during week 2 on many models.
Looks like the Mid Atlantic to the Northeast have the highest threat, which will likely look different in the coming days.

Sara
Reply to  Mike Maguire
September 9, 2017 4:53 pm

There may be another storm forming in the wake of Jose. Look at a doppler map of the Atlantic, southeast of Jose. If it does form, then Eric will be completely WRONG, again.

Sara
September 9, 2017 4:52 pm

I had hoped that someone would dig up the 1998 four hurricanes, because the local weatherman – who was/is FAR MORE TRUTHFUL and ACCURATE than Eric – brought this up on Monday, showed the images, and provided the background for those four storms.
It appears that ol’ Eric the Bold has become Eric the Bloviater, and should learn when to shut his mouth or admit he made a serious mistake.
Thanks for the heads up, WUWT, and for doing the right thing.

jon2009
Reply to  Sara
September 10, 2017 10:31 pm

So then 1998=4 hurricanes, 2017=3 hurricanes.
Obviously extreme weather/climate has decreased by 25%.
We need more CO2 to pacify it further.

September 9, 2017 5:19 pm

“While Blake is technically correct about the “threatening land” part of his tweet, the takeway phrase is the one that got “legs” and is running the opposite direction he intended.”

Blake is not “technically correct.
Blake just compared historical apples to predicted grapefruit and claims there are obvious differences.
i.e. current predictions are as good as gospel and can be compared one for one against historical hurricane tracks.
When the picture of hurricane Julia was taken, there was not any surety that the storm would head north.
Just as there is zero surety that Jose will slam into the USA or even threaten more islands.
Blake fully displayed “brainless git” in a public forum while representing the NHC and the US Government.
Now Blake displays deep immaturity by being refusing to correct or better yet, retract his shallow inflammatory statement and immediately making changes to his tweets and avoiding further inflaming his mistake.
Instead, Blake digs his falsehood pit deeper and deeper till only the religious faithful will think “Blake is a credible meteorologist”.
If Blake can not control his twitter immaturity or be scientist enough to correct misconceptions he caused, then Blake shouldn’t be in the NHC masquerading as a neutral scientist.
Especially since Blake prefers twisting history in a futile pretense that Blake accurately stated hurricane fact.
Blake is rightfully excoriated for the headlines he caused.
Blake should be prevented from publishing anything or speaking to the pubic without a truly credible scientist first approving the statement.
If Blake can not control himself, his fingers and his mouth then the NHC should consider finding a publicly credible meteorologist.
It’s called professionalism and trustworthy.

Sixto
September 9, 2017 5:31 pm

“Our state has never seen anything like it!”
https://www.yahoo.com/news/magnitude-irma-drives-massive-evacuation-florida-051408113.html
What a load of Pelosi, with Schumer on top. (Sorry for that image.)
Tell that to the families of the 409 killed in the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane. Or the more than 2500 in the 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane.
Most lethal known FL hurricanes:
Name Year Number of deaths
“Okeechobee” 1928 2,500+
Unnamed 1781 2,000
Unnamed 1622 1,090
Unnamed Around 1553 700
Unnamed 1553 <700
Unnamed 1559 500
Unnamed 1559 ~500
Unnamed 1683 496
"Labor Day" 1935 409
"Miami" 1926 372
Unnamed 1563 284
"Florida Keys" 1906 240
We'll see how it compares to Andrew's death toll of 65.

RAH
Reply to  Sixto
September 9, 2017 5:49 pm

heck with more than 5 million on the road getting out of dodge it is probably a good thing they are jammed up because if they weren’t the death toll from the evacuation alone may well come close to matching the Andrew total.
This truck driver doesn’t have to go down to Florida anymore and I’m darn glad of it. Sometimes it seems like those Blue hairs down in “Gods waiting room” are tired of waiting.

Sixto
Reply to  RAH
September 9, 2017 5:53 pm

If you like FL snowbird drivers, you’ll love AZ.

RAH
Reply to  RAH
September 9, 2017 6:05 pm

Still go there some times. This year several runs to Casa Grande and Nogales. Arizona and about all the west with the exception of LA is a joy to drive in compared to the east coast. I-95 from Boston to Richmond is the Armpit of truck driving.

Sixto
Reply to  RAH
September 9, 2017 6:10 pm

RAH,
I can well believe that.
But town traffic in southern AZ has to experienced to be believed.
You never know if a right turn signal blinking means that the car ahead of you is about to turn right, or has turned right in the past half hour.
That’s not original with me, but with a Filipina humorist from WA State, referring to the Ballard ‘hood in Seattle.

RAH
Reply to  RAH
September 9, 2017 6:33 pm

Used to enjoy the drive down to Laredo, TX but I-35 has gotten so bad now from Waco down through San Antonio it’s just a chore. I’ll be glad when they get I-69 put in down there. There was a time a few years ago when Texas was talking about putting in a toll road just for trucks down that way. At the time I thought it was not a good idea. Now……well…..

Sixto
Reply to  RAH
September 9, 2017 6:40 pm

What would drive (!) me nuts is what a hunting and fishing buddy of mine does, ie drive the same 250-mile route every single day, to and fro.

Barbara
Reply to  Sixto
September 9, 2017 6:14 pm

The U.S. Interstate system was built to move the military and evacuate people. Maybe in some areas it should all be six lanes ?

Sixto
Reply to  Sixto
September 9, 2017 6:38 pm

RAH,
IMO, toll roads have their place. A quick way to get a project built and paid for.
In LA, where everybody drives, freeway makes sense. But for an extension intended to help trucks move more quickly, makes sense to me.
The Chilean version of US I-5, Ruta Cinco, is all toll for its whole 2500-mile length. With modern automatic pay systems, the tolls aren’t even that annoying.
Glad to hear that there at least some routes which you enjoy driving and aren’t deadly dull and boring.

RAH
Reply to  Sixto
September 9, 2017 6:56 pm

Sixto
I may complain and whine but the fact is, if I didn’t enjoy my job I wouldn’t be doing it. I love driving, always have, and so driving is fun most days for me. And believe or not, there is a lot of satisfaction in doing the job when others can’t or won’t and doing it right. And that is what I do. I’m paid a salary to be an “on-call” driver. When things go wrong and a driver doesn’t show up, or there is some screw up, or sometimes when they have a new run to someplace where they need someone to go the first time and then give them feed back for directions for future drivers, or if the weather is forecast to be bad in an area and no drivers want to take the run, I will be one of the five drivers at a terminal with 300 drivers that will be called to go. It keeps the job interesting for me and I get to go different places instead of running to the same places all the time as the majority of drivers do. And it pays well while at the same time I get more home time that if I were getting paid by the mile. I’ll be doing this job as long as my health holds out and I can pass the physical.
[Stay safe. Enjoy your family, enjoy your life. .mod]

Sixto
Reply to  Sixto
September 9, 2017 7:08 pm

Then you are truly blessed to enjoy your work so much.
I overdue the Snowbird driving bit. My wife is Angla from MN, more Scandinavian than technically Angla, so we see a lot of her compatriots driving when visiting her mom and dad in AZ. The locals debate whether MN or IA license plates are more dangerous.
You’ve survived and thrived despite all the hazards of the freeways and toll roads, enjoying it all the time, so more power to you. Especially if your family is OK with your extended absences. It sounds as if your schedule is ideal though, if you aren’t gone for long stretches every week.
This summer driving season has been hard on drivers, between smoke in the West and wind and wet in the East and South.
Keep on truckin’! But be safe out there.

Dave
Reply to  Sixto
September 9, 2017 11:44 pm

The death toll in the past was due to lack of forecasting, poor evacuation, and the wrong sort of ships.. Not strength of hurracane.
Death toll is a very poor measure of hurracane strength only of human tragedy.
Your post is pointless.

Scott Scarborough
September 9, 2017 5:48 pm

Maybe Eric Blake believes in anthropomorphic climate change rather than anthropogenic climate change. The hurricanes are “threatening land” and trying to get us as punishment for our evil ways!

Sixto
Reply to  Scott Scarborough
September 9, 2017 5:52 pm

Then he’s in good company. Jennifer Lawrence, a great actress but a total bimbette when not playing someone else, would agree.

Sara
Reply to  Scott Scarborough
September 9, 2017 5:58 pm

Maybe Eric Blake doesn’t understand that engaging in hyperbole without doing due diligence and research first and providing backup can embarrass someone in ways that he will not live down for a very long time.
I know someone else who is just as bad about this kind of thing as Eric Blake, and regularly gets verbally pounded for it.

Sixto
Reply to  Sara
September 9, 2017 6:02 pm

Showing yet again, as if more evidence were needed, that “climate scientists” aren’t scientists.

Sixto
Reply to  Anthony Watts
September 9, 2017 6:53 pm

I assumed that Scott was kidding.
Forecast now is for max of 127 mph winds over SW FL, with storm surge possibly 15 feet.
A far cry from The Worst Evah!
But no joking matter.

Sixto
September 9, 2017 7:28 pm

More blatant lies:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/155-mph-winds-hurricane-irma-154914547.html
That’s a weak Cat 5, not a strong one. That speed is the absolute lower limit of Cat 5.

Dave
Reply to  Sixto
September 9, 2017 11:54 pm

Sixto there is a photo of a tree in San Maartin with its bark stripped off by IRMA. That supposedly readies 200 mph winds, according to the Wiki.report of the 1780 huricane

Dave
Reply to  Sixto
September 10, 2017 12:01 am

http://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/7/162643
It’s the one of a tree bent double in front of a grey SUV. Taken by Gerben Van Es, the 29th photo in the series. Now that is supposedly never happened since 1780!

Dave
Reply to  Dave
September 10, 2017 2:46 am

Sixto, earlier you indicated that 100% of the buildings were wrecked by the 1780 hurricane, a quick check in wiki indicates that most of the buildings were destroyed, a couple of churches St Peter and St Philip on Barbados were untouched . Similarly the catedral de Santa maria la menor built 1540 was still standing. This is not 100% as you stated.
You seem to be a lax in your reporting and are slipping in what Dean Swift stated was not the truth.
Now Barbuda is reporting 95% destruction.in housing and St Martin has trees without bark.
This hurricane has matched the anecdotal and reconstructions evidence for the 1780 event

bitchilly
Reply to  Dave
September 10, 2017 4:56 am

have to say i didn’t notice the tree with stripped bark when looking at the pictures. the picture i really liked had some people smiling ,relaxing and drinking beer .
i always wondered why in areas of the world where there is an actual named hurricane season people continue to build on low lying land and with materials unsuitable to high wind speeds. why are there no centrally located hurricane shelters in each area ,raised in areas where flooding would be expected.
do people in areas affected like this really think there won’t be another hurricane once the latest one passes. i think it shows either the stupidity or stubbornness of humanity knows no bounds.possibly a bit of both.

Sixto
September 9, 2017 9:21 pm

More mendacity from liars claiming to be scientists:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/series-potent-hurricanes-stokes-scientific-debate-155405459.html
Active cycle since 1995? What about no US landfalling hurricanes between 2005 and 2017?

Sixto
Reply to  Sixto
September 9, 2017 9:23 pm

Clean Air Act blamed, along with global warming, of course.

rwisrael
September 9, 2017 10:55 pm

Blake needs “hole science” training. When you’re in one, stop digging.

Jamie
September 10, 2017 5:11 am

Looks like Jose won’t be hitting any land…looks like a retractment is in order

Sara
Reply to  Jamie
September 10, 2017 7:47 am

The weather report this morning was that Jose will make a loop and head northwest, to pound New England. Probably the Maritime Provinces, too, but that’s Canada and wasn’t included in the weather story. It may, of course, change over the next few days.

Jamie
Reply to  Sara
September 10, 2017 11:20 am

Looking at nhc.noaa.gov. shows Jose looping around and doing a bunch of nothing

September 10, 2017 2:46 pm

Just for perspective, .. I consider myself fairly intelligent, but when I saw that headline with those three images of hurricanes, I took the message literally and simply as presented — namely, as three hurricanes all at once, in a row behind one another, NEVER, EVER seen before in the history of human kind, with an implied message of ominous evil underlying this visual configuration.
Any efforts to defend the headline by appealing to specific storm-path details or predictions of landfall are BS. The raw visceral, visual impact of the image said nothing of these details. And the raw visceral, visual impact of the image with the limited wording of the headline had EXACTLY the effect that those words portrayed, along with its ominous unspoken underpinnings.
In short, this story WAS fake news. And an intelligent person should admit this and maybe even apologize for going for sensationalism at the expense of accurate information.

tadchem
September 11, 2017 4:26 am

The explains a lot – the attention span of a gerbil.

September 11, 2017 10:03 am

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the few words (headline) that accompanies it should be well chosen to indicate whether those thousand words are worth reading in depth. That’s the purpose of headlines.
In a busy world, a person uses headlines as filters to determine what they read in full and what they do not. Abusing this common knowledge with fake headlines is fraudulent, and anybody who tries to defend it on any level is complicit in such a fraud.