Over the past two days, the storm — anticipated to hit Texas later Friday — has rapidly strengthened into a Category 3 major hurricane, packing 120 mph winds and a threatening a multi-day rainfall so heavy you’ll need a yardstick to measure it. The storm’s impact could be among the worst in U.S. weather history, rivaling even Hurricane Katrina.
The implications are hard to put into words, so I asked my meteorologist colleagues to describe them using one or two:
“Epic, unprecedented” — Brian McNoldy, hurricane specialist at University of Miami
“Unprecedented danger” — Marshall Shepherd, meteorology professor at University of Georgia
“In a word: life-changing. The question is where, how expansive, and how many people’s lives it will change. If nothing else this should be a big wake-up call to many.” — Anthony Fracasso, forecaster at the NOAA Weather Prediction Center
“Dangerous, scary” — Adam Sobel, hurricane expert, Columbia University
“Epic deluge” — Ryan Maue, hurricane expert, WeatherBELL analytics
“One word, given the storm’s longevity: torturous” — Jim Cantore, the Weather Channel
“Simply: overwhelming” — Taylor Trogdon, National Hurricane Center
“Prolonged misery” — Rick Smith, NWS meteorologist in Norman, Oklahoma
“Two answers, not playing by the rules with both. 1.) Forecast challenge of a career. 2.) Enormously challenging.” — Matt Lanza, energy industry meteorologist based in Houston
Original source –
