http://www.metafilter.com/tags/Saffir-Simpson Posts tagged with 'Saffir-Simpson' at MetaFilter. Fri, 12 Sep 2008 06:55:53 -0800 Fri, 12 Sep 2008 06:55:53 -0800 en-us http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 60 http://www.metafilter.com/74826/The%2Dother%2DIKE%2Dthat%2Ddeserves%2Dattention Those who judge hurricane risk merely by their Saffir-Simpson category number (1-5) are not getting the entire picture. Another (coincidentally-named) <a href="http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/Powell/BAMS_IKE_Paper_final.pdf">IKE</a> (<b>I</b>ntergrated <b>K</b>inetic <b>E</b>nergy) proposes an improved method of classifying hurricanes, one that takes into account their size and separates the danger components of sea surge (which kills 9 out of 10 hurricane victims) and wind. <a href="http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/show.html">By that measure, Hurricane Ike is the most dangerous storm in 40 years</a>. Ike's path reminds many of the greatest natural disaster in U.S. History, the Great Hurricane of 1900 (<a href="http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5738477727172072633">91 minute History Channel video on Google</a>) which killed thousands due mainly to the great <a href="http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/HAW2/english/storm_surge.shtml">sea surge</a>. After that the 17' Galveston sea wall was built and it has never been topped since by hurricane waves. <b><i>Hurricane Ike may change that</i></b> as current wave heights (WVHT) being reported by <a href="http://ndbc.noaa.gov/radial_search.php?storm=at4">buoy data in the vicinity of Ike</a> are well over 20 feet. A computer-simulated "Hurricane Carly" shows the results of various sea surges for the Galveston area (with <a href="http://prtl.uhcl.edu/portal/page/portal/FAO/Student_Tab_Related/Students_Tab_Images/Surge%20Galveston%201.pdf">gra</a>p<a href="http://prtl.uhcl.edu/portal/page/portal/FAO/Student_Tab_Related/Students_Tab_Images/Surge%20Galveston%202.pdf">hic</a> <a href="http://prtl.uhcl.edu/portal/page/portal/FAO/Student_Tab_Related/Students_Tab_Images/Surge%20Galveston%20Texas%20City.pdf">gra</a>p<a href="http://prtl.uhcl.edu/portal/page/portal/FAO/Student_Tab_Related/Students_Tab_Images/Surge%20Galveston%20Bay%20Clear%20Lake%20Taylor%20Lake_0.pdf">hics</a>): Play with real-time data and forecasts for the western gulf with the experimental <a href="http://nowcoast.noaa.gov/?BOX=-71.31:40.95:-64.97:45.28&VisibleLayerIDs=obs_pt_oc">nowCoast</a>. tag:metafilter.com,2008:site.74826 Fri, 12 Sep 2008 06:55:53 -0800 Energy Galveston hurricane hurricanes Ike Integrated Kinetic Saffir-Simpson spock