Jere Lull wrote:
....
> Sorry to directly disagree, but I been there, done that, and know both
> areas intimately.
>
> LI gets more storms and hurricanes than the BVI or any other single
> "Caribbean" island group ("quotes" allow for including the Bahamas and
> Bermuda, which aren't in the Caribbean.)
This seems very doubtful indeed if you're just counting hurricanes and
tropical storms. Lets look at the data:
Since 1851, New York has had 12 strikes from hurricanes, 6 cat 1, 1 cat
2, 5 cat 3, and nothing stronger.
http://www.stormfax.com/hurstate.htm
How about the Carribean:
For the same period, Virgin Gorda had 28 hurricanes, of which 4 of the
were cat 4, stronger than any that hit NY. The Bahamas faired worse,
with 40 hurricanes. In fact, most of the Carribean/Bahamas (and even
Bermuda) has more hurricanes than any place in the US Northeast.
(It is true that the Carribean strikes are measured a bit different, but
since the NY coast is about 120 miles this seems like a fair comparison.)
http://www.stormcarib.com/climatology/freq.htm
which is extracted from:
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/NWS-TPC-5.pdf
http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/Landsea/deadly/index.html
>
> As a BVI "expert" for more than a decade, I get many re****ts. To date, I
> have fielded exactly one 'cane experience in the BVI, and their
> experience was that they were "forced" into a hurricane hole for one
> day. They listened to the local forecasts, chose that day to shop
> onshore, and were paid to enjoy the experience. They cared not that they
> had to wear their foulies as they walked around.
Their memory is rather short, since the BVI had a number of serious hits
in the late '80s and '90s. Of course, that's the problem with being an
"expert" for the last ten years; the major storms average every 15 years
or so.
>
> A typical Chesapeake squall line is more "interesting" than their
> experience. Chesapeake squall lines are a wake-up call for world
> cruisers who have been through 'canes or brushed by them. We often
> experience 110+ knot winds for an hour or more. A fairly recent one put
> 28 boats on a local anchorage's beaches.
I certainly wouldn't deny that thunderstorm squalls can be very intense,
but I seriously doubt they sustain 110+ knots for over an hour, and that
this happens "often." I've tried to find any record of extreme squalls
and in fact only one re****ting station on the Chesapeake re****ted record
gusts of over 100 mph.
I have no doubt that "hurricane force gusts" occur somewhere in the Bay
several times a year, but that's not the same 110+ knots sustained for
over an hour.
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