IT'S STILL SEPTEMBER FOR THREE MORE DAYS
SEPT = MIDDLE OF HURRICANE SEASON
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| Getting ready for the boogie |
Part of our preparation included attaching wire ties to concrete blocks on opposite sides of all the chicken aviaries. This was our minimal attempt at keeping them from getting blown around in case of big wind. In case of a more serious situation developing we're ready to go lock the chickens in their coops to ride out the worst part of the storm. In case of extreme emergency, we're ready to pull the car out of the garage and put chicken coops in there for protection. Screw the cars, PROTECT THE CHICKENS, "BA-GOCK!"
OUR PREDICTION: It's always fun to "guess" what any hurricane-rated storm will bring to us here in Melbourne. Our power operated hurricane shutters, provided by Rolltite Shutters, all operated flawlessly, even the solar powered one that protects our Clearstory in the great room (aka The Studio).
Mary still thinks Ian could go North instead of going East into landfall which = death to hurricane.
Mark thinks Ian will go across the state, weaken significantly and then reform off the coast of Jacksonville/St Augustine. The NHC still predicts it will go North into Georgia and Carolinas to die over land.
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| Coming soon |
Over warm Gulf water the storm builds and goes faster but the moment it goes over land the storm is cutoff from unlimited water intake and it begins to die. Hurricanes rotate counter-clockwise, the brunt of the storm is felt from one side of the circle. To reach Melbourne with wind the hurricane must rotate its wind all the way across the state, a couple hundred miles. We'll be tracking windspeed and reporting it when it matters.
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| Hello Florida |
Ian is massive in diameter as it intersects land. It is SO BIG that it is rotating around the tip of Florida and letting winds hit us in Melbourne from the Northeast. Currently (1:42 pm Wed Sept 28) we have calm here in Melbourne, no wind, no rain. My guess is that the storm impacting shore/land on the Southwest side of the state has already cut the diameter dramatically.
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| This sucks |
By far Tornados are far more dangerous and impossible to predict. Fortunately for us they are rare in the Melbourne area. We're happy we invested in our new and improved roof a couple of years ago. Longer nails with a twist provide tighter roof sheeting and better resistance to the roof being removed due to hurricane weather. Tornados are total destruction so they're to be avoided.
Peafowl showed up around 1PM, they look surprisingly dry considering they spent the night up in trees in the rain.
FedEX and USPS were both out making deliveries today. We got junk mail. YEAH!!!
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| The latest update, Mark predicted it right! |
Look at that, scientists have caught up with my prediction that this storm would restrengthen into a hurricane and go play hell with the Carolinas.
HOURLY REPORTS START WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2022 AT 1AM
All Rainfall information from weather station on South Property. Rainfall detection died on Northwest station though it is still reporting wind and lightening strikes.
Where two wind speeds are shown they are LOW and GUST(s)
1 AM, The rain had begun when I came out to the kitchen to check on the progress of the hurricane. The South weather station reported .03 inches had fallen since Midnight.
6:30 AM, South weather station was at 1.3" of rain fallen. Ian is shaping up to be a rainmaker for sure.
8:30 AM, South weather station 1.82" of rain so far. North weather station has failed so we're relying on the South weather station for our data.
9:00 AM Wed - 1.98" reporting on South Weather Station. Wind = 2 mph (South), Wind =4-5 mph (North West station) It's still raining (wow what a surprise). The rain so far has been heavy but not down pour. In the last 10 minutes the rain has become visibly significantly heavier. Looking around from our Patio Observatory there is very little wind in the 0-50 foot above ground. Where we SEE some significant wind is up high, the tops of the pine trees are dancing against a gray sky.
9:05 AM - HELLO WIND, AC power is wicking on and off as Florida Power and Light switch things around. We're getting some strong gusts now down closer to the ground. The Date Palm is flapping around wildly, the bamboo is leaning and wiggling A LOT. Rate of rainfall seems to be in a ramping up phase. It's a torrential downpour, hard to see across to the other side of the pond.
Meanwhile the Florida Brown Mottled ducks are having a nice time on the North shore of our pond, They're playing by the waters edge, swimming around and eating corn. It's a good day for ducks, no peafowl or ibis to get in their way, and NONE of those pesky chickens. It's just nice.
9:30 AM - 2.94" rainfall reported on South weather station. North station = dead rain fall sensor
7 mph sustained wind, gusting to 11 mph
9:50 AM - 3.10" rainfall - currently rainfall is abated to "light". Just did a walk around the drain canals. Canal 65 is elevated but not above the output from our swale runoff. Our eastern swale is draining a strong flow of water into canal 65. The land around the house is totally saturated. The septic system is beginning to gurgle because the drainfield is so saturated with rain.
Wind = 2 mph, not much showing visually either.
11 AM - 3.6" rainfall - Wind 2 mph - Rate of rain = slow currently but steady.
It's an explosion of Frogs outside. Their sounds are heard very plainly and loudly. All the rain we've had over the last two weeks has left many new puddles for frogs to breed in. Now they're going wild.
Our chickens are confused by all the rain and moisture laying around. Cabin 3 (Orangey and Henny Penny) is flooded. We put upside down litter boxes so the two chickens could get up out of the water. All the chickens can retreat into their plastic Formex coops to completely escape the rain. Most are staying out in their aviary to watch the storm around them.
12:45 PM - 3.91 - rain has slowed dramatically (thank you God). Essentially no rain.
1:45 PM - 3.91 - rain and wind have stopped.
3:30 PM - 3.92 rainfall - 6 mph steady wind -
3:50 - NO RAIN - 6 mph steady wind -
5:45 PM - not raining - 3.94 total rainfall - 2 to 7 mph wind speed
6:45 PM - still 3.94 inches of rainfall and not raining currently - 7 to 14 mph wind (second number is always gust)
11:40 PM - 4.04" rainfall - last reading of the day
THURSDAY - Midnight - light rain and some wind occurring, forecast today is for NO RAIN. 10-day outlook is NO RAIN, again, thank you God
8 AM - .79" since Midnight, not much rain currently, supposedly we are the in the center of the tropical storm right now.
8:45 AM - still .79" rainfall today and currently NOT RAINING (thank you God), Chickens are all OUT and happy. It's a swampy soupy mess out there right now, anxious for Florida to suck it up.
12PM - NOON - still .79" rainfall today - wind = 4mph gusting to 16 infrequently.
7 brown ducks, 120 sneetches, 9 peafowl and 34 chickens are here at P2 today.
1:00 PM - total rainfall since 12AM currently = .8" - we are experiencing wind gusts from the outer bands of the newly forming hurricane Ian off our Eastern shore. Supposedly it is moving North but it's going darned slow. We're tired of this storm, it won't leave.
4:15 PM - total rainfall = .97", wind = zero to 4 mph, mostly not windy (which is nice)
Chickens look happy about the storm going away
FRIDAY
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| Peafowl and Chickens relaxing amid the debris from Hurricane Ian |
3:00 AM - No rain, no wind, Ian might actually have finally left Florida. This seemed like the hurricane that would never end. The gusting winds on Thursday seemed to go on and on. Just when you think they were done, whooooooosh, another big blast would start shaking the trees.
IAN left behind; Winter! What? Yup. Before Ian our evening air was 74-76 degrees F. After IAN it's 66-degrees. The air outside is crisp and cool. I guess you can tell, we've totally become Floridians when 66-degrees feels C O L D. Even 89% humidity can't warm it up.
Ian is gone and that's a good thing. Chickens are relaxing in their coops and sleeping soundly, not a single rooster calling at this hour. They're tired after all the wind and rain noise from four solid days of foul weather, too foul for fowl.
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| This is the END of IAN |
Peafowl are rejoicing in their trees. Finally, a good nights sleep. They'll be back tomorrow with smiles on their faces and outstretched little feet, asking for treat.
