Time to start paying attention to the weather - Irene is heading toward Florida

August 22, 2011, 12:29 PM · Thinking of heading to Florida this weekend? A hurricane might be there to greet you.

Hurricane Irene forecast map

Hurricane Irene appears to be the first of the season to target Florida. The National Hurricane Center is forecasting that the storm will sweep north just off the Atlantic coast of the state, arriving due east of Port Canaveral Friday morning. The forecast "cone" of where the storm could show up includes much of the state, however. Cruise lines already are altering their itineraries.

At this point, Irene's not that strong yet, having just achieved hurricane status. If the NHC's forecast holds, Irene's sustained winds will build to over 110 mph by Thursday, and the storm is predicted to hit South Carolina on Saturday morning.

Florida residents, you know the drill by now. But if you're planning a visit to the state's theme parks between now and the weekend, start paying attention to the weather forecasts.

Replies (7)

August 22, 2011 at 3:53 PM · The most striking feature of the exterior of 'Men In Black: Alien Attack' is the maginficient "Wonderwall" -- a sweeping architectual element that covers the entire front elevation.

The Wonderwall boasts an exterior finishing system (coating). Installation of the system required erecting an enormous scaffold. Some may remember the scaffold as it was in plain view of the public.

While work was being completed on the exterior finish, a hurricane looked like it was headed tio Central Florida.

As a result, the scaffolding crew was mobilized and spent an entire day removing all the planks that made up the walkwway on the scaffold.

And the hurricne turned right and wandered away from Florida.

As a result, the scaffolding crew was mobilized and spent an entire day installing all the planks that made up the walkway on the scaffold. Work continued.

And then ANOTHER hurricane rose up out of the Atlantic. This time Central Florida was squarely in its crosshairs. I remember walking into a team meeting (a bit late) and entering a discussion about the impending storm. I jumped in "I'm sorry, I have not seen much news lately, is this thing really coming?"

The exec running the meeting shrugged, "You can try prayer."

As a result, the scaffolding crew was mobilized and spent an entire day removing all the planks that made up the walkwway on the scaffold.

And the hurricne turned right and wandered away from Florida.

As a result, the scaffolding crew was mobilized and spent an entire day installing all the planks that made up the walkway on the scaffold. Work continued.

The day after, one of my MIB pals who had been imported from Universal's California offices asked me, "So, does Florida have these fake disasters often?"

Knock on wood, the answer will be "yes."

August 22, 2011 at 4:00 PM · Welcome to the Florida summer:

* You will enjoy a very hot weather.

* And the humidity is lovely.

* You will enjoy strong afternoon thunderstorms; we are proud in central Florida to be the lightning capital of the World.

* Hurricanes galore! Nothing like strong winds and rain to cool you from the heat, and Irene will do that for you.

August 22, 2011 at 7:22 PM · Its now section 2! Lets hope all us Floridians survive.
August 22, 2011 at 8:05 PM · In the spirit of TH Creative's post, I'm hoping that the more we talk about it... the farther out it stays in the Atlantic.
August 23, 2011 at 12:24 AM · I live in Wilmington NC... on the map, that is located about directly on the water of the east coast of NC about 3 human hairs up from the NC/SC border... as of a few hours ago, AMS has been saying that it should kick us square in the yarbles Saturday. Not sure if that would rustle FL too badly or not... these storms are always so unpredictable.
August 23, 2011 at 5:14 AM · The most recent tracking shows it skirting Florida and heading for the Carolinas.
August 23, 2011 at 5:40 AM · I bought some hurricane supplies yesterday, so don't worry fellow Floridians, as a result the chances are now very high that the hurricane won't hit us (Lord willing)!

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