[HN Gopher] We're only beginning to understand the historic natu...
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       We're only beginning to understand the historic nature of Helene's
       flooding
        
       Author : rntn
       Score  : 28 points
       Date   : 2024-09-30 16:34 UTC (6 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (arstechnica.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (arstechnica.com)
        
       | bloopernova wrote:
       | Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE)
       | https://tropical.atmos.colostate.edu/Realtime/
       | 
       | The figure in parentheses is ACE, averaged over 30 years up to
       | and including September 30th: 77.8 (94.1)
       | 
       | There's more detail here, including a helpful chart:
       | https://tropical.atmos.colostate.edu/Realtime/index.php?loc=...
       | 
       | EDIT: Interesting that Beryl had more ACE than Helene. I wonder
       | if that figure will change as the effects from Helene are
       | investigated further?
        
         | sudenmorsian wrote:
         | No, Helene's ACE will remain unchanged until the post-season
         | analysis of both storms. It's a measure of the storm's duration
         | and intensity; Helene was a rather short-lived storm with the
         | intense period only occuring for a short time compared to Beryl
         | which is why it has such a lower value than Beryl.
         | 
         | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accumulated_cyclone_energy
        
       | danielvf wrote:
       | It was a bad disaster. I was scheduled to be there, but took a
       | look at the NOAA rainfall map the night before and canceled my
       | trip.
       | 
       | Calling it unthinkable is really overselling it though. Mountain
       | towns and roads flood when it rains a lot. If you search past
       | years google search results for Chimney Rock, it floods with 3"
       | to 5" inches of rain. The town is just a few feet above water
       | level - I've walked along the river.
        
         | schiffern wrote:
         | So you're saying it's a region already especially vulnerable to
         | flooding. How is that supposed to be better?
        
           | jjk166 wrote:
           | They're not saying it was better, they're saying it was
           | foreseeable.
        
         | giraffe_lady wrote:
         | I think they mean more literally historical, in the sense that
         | like this is when people will remember becoming aware that
         | inland mountain ranges are catastrophically vulnerable to
         | hurricanes now.
         | 
         | > Meteorologist Ben Noll said that the level of moisture
         | transported to western North Carolina is more than 1.5 times
         | greater than any event in the historical record for the region.
         | 
         | This is a little more than "mountains flood when it rains" it
         | seems.
        
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       (page generated 2024-09-30 23:02 UTC)