I hope Dean does lose stength as it enters the Gulf. I quoted exactly what was said last night, by the forecaster on The Weather Channel.
Right, I'm sure you quoted them accurately. But that's the problem with the cable news folks -- they're just plain wrong much of the time.
That quote from Weather Channel was about something they thought might happen four days in the future.
However, in reality, the 11 PM, 8/17/07 NHC official forecast (same forecast they should have been looking at) was calling for Cat 5 conditions not 4 days later, but
just 24 hours later; and not in the Gulf of Mexico, but hundreds of miles east, south of the Dominican Republic, prior to hitting Jamaica. Here's the exact quote, with 135 Kt being 157 MPH, which would make the storm a Cat 5:
24HR VT
19/0000Z 16.4N 71.7W 135 KT
This storm has
never been forecast to be Cat 5 in the Gulf. Here's the official 11 PM, 8/17 forecast for the storm in the Gulf of Mexico four days later:
96HR VT
22/0000Z 22.5N 91.5W 110 KT
110 Kt is 128 MPH, and that's a Cat 3, not Cat 5.
I'm sure you reported what you heard correctly, but that's my point with the cable news folks...including the Weather Channel.
Why watch them sell Viagra
when you can go to the source and get more accurate, more timely information without the hype?