Tropical Storm Oscar forms near Turks and Caicos Islands
Updated: 11:18 AM EDT Oct 19, 2024
From West two. This is the hurricane kid casts. Hello, I’m West Two news anchor, Nancy Alvarez and I’m first warning meteorologist, Eric Burriss. Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait *** minute. Let’s, let’s tone this down just *** little bit. Ok. Hold on today. We’re all about the kids. We each have kids. We know how curious they are about everything and everything includes the weather. That’s right. And as parents, we know storms can be really scary. So we want to know how we can help keep kids calm and help them really understand what’s happening. So we ask kids to send in their questions about hurricane season. I gotta tell you, we got some really good ones we did. So first up is Eva and she gets right to the point. Hi, my name’s Eva. What exactly is *** hurricane? Great question. So what is *** hurricane? Think of it as your normal run of the mill thunderstorm? Just on *** much bigger scale. They can be hundreds of miles wide and they do carry *** lot of wind and *** lot of rain. But essentially that’s it. We get storms each and every afternoon. It’s just *** really big one. That’s pretty easy to understand. And *** good question. Evan. Yeah. So let’s get to another question. All right. So we’ve got another good one and this one is from Henry. Hi, Eric. My name’s Henry. And how *** hurricane storm? Great question. So, basically think of the ocean as *** warm thing. Right? During the summer we go out and we play, but in grade school we learn about the water cycle, right? Evaporation, condensation. That’s essentially how we develop tropical storms and hurricanes that water evaporates, condensates becomes clouds, showers, thunderstorms and this happens over hundreds of miles over the ocean. Ok. Water temperatures, once they hit about 80 degrees, you really get this going. And if the conditions are right, you can get what’s called *** tropical depression, which is the first stage if you will in development, ok. As it gets stronger and bigger, you could become *** tropical storm with winds of 39 to 73 MPH. And if it is just right, atmospherically, you can get *** big hurricane, *** very large area of strong wind and circulation. These are the storms that get the names. These are the ones that we have to watch so closely. That is so helpful. You know, one of the best ways to really feel less anxious about everything that’s going on around us and about *** storm is to really understand what’s happening and then you can be part of the preparations Yes, you can help. We can do this, help your parents, your neighbors, even your pets. And when the storm passes, you can even step up and help your community once it’s safe, we promise all of these things will make you feel *** lot better love that. All right, Eric. So, here’s *** question from Haley and she’s curious about something that happened *** couple of years ago. Hi, my name is Haley and I want to know how do hurricanes set up water from the ocean? And how’d you say empty camp the day, Haley? That’s *** really, really good question. So, think about *** hurricane, you see it spinning there, it spins what’s called counterclockwise or the opposite direction of *** wall clock. And believe it or not, there’s winds rotating around *** storm in the exact same direction. So if you get *** storm system positioned, say just south of Tampa Bay, all of the wind actually pulls water out. And if the wind is strong enough, like it was *** few years ago, you can actually pull all the water out of the bay. The problem is what goes out must come back in and as soon as you get *** change in the wind direction, you can get all that water piling back in with *** storm surge. We’ve even seen that happen out in the Bahamas. I mean, it’s wild and doesn’t that just make you realize how unbelievable science is wind pulling water out like that. It’s so powerful and again, it makes you feel less anxious when you really understand how and why it’s happening. Thanks, Eric. Well, our next question comes from *** little girl named Gracie. Hi, Mr Eric. I’m my name is Gracie. I want to know how hurricanes to damage *** house. Great question, Gracie. So, winds and waves, it’s all driven by the wind though. So *** category one carries winds over 74 miles an hour that can snap trees, bring power lines down. But folks that live at the beach could actually start to see what’s called storm surge, flooding where the ocean is pushed across the beach and into homes. And when that starts to happen, you combine that with strong winds and you could see some significant damage. That’s why when there are big hurricanes coming, people that live right at the beach are asked to evacuate just so that you can get away from that storm surge. The term we use in the weather world, Nancy hide, ok. Hide from wind, run from water. So when evacuation orders come down, this is not anything to be scared about. It’s just to make sure if the threat is there, you don’t have water coming into your house and you’re trapped and those rules and plans are there to keep you safe. So that’s why it’s so important that we listen and we do what we’re asked to do in these situations. So we’re talking about hurricanes, right? But during *** hurricane, we often can experience other types of weather events and that’s what Marshall wants to know about. Here’s his question. Hello. My name is Marshall. I’m nine years old. My question is why are there so many tornadoes inside *** hurricane? Well, Marshall, this is *** little complex but I’ll do the best I can to answer it. So this is the path of Vidalia, which was one of the last storms to impact Florida. You see that line, that’s where the center of circulation moved on the right side of that circulation. There’s *** little extra spin in the atmosphere and that’s where you could look for *** higher tornado threat. They’re usually weaker tornadoes and, and frankly, they’re not much stronger than the storms winds themselves. So at the end of the day, whether it’s *** hurricane force wind gust or *** tornado, it just kind of adds *** little extra something to them. But the good news, they’re usually weak and they’re usually very, very quick lived. They pop up and then they fade right out. Good to know. That is good news. All right. So these have all been such great questions and I know I’m not *** kid. Ok, obviously, but I have *** question. Can I ask it? Is that ok? Ok. What are some things kids should make sure they have with them during *** hurricane? I think the most important thing is games Right. Not anything crazy. Just *** deck of cards, *** board game. My son loves monopoly all of *** sudden or shoots and ladders have things to do because if the power goes out we have to have some fun. Right. That’s, I think the most important thing for the kids after that, it’s just making sure that you have your snacks that you have, meals are able to eat and drink all of that fun stuff. Let the parents handle all of the, you know, food and water and all that. But for the kids, let’s just have things to do that way when it’s *** little windy outside and it may sound scary. We don’t even have to worry about that. We can just play and have *** good time with them and you can even have your own little lantern or your own flashlight. There’s *** lot of things that you guys can do on your own to help your parents and help ease that stress *** little bit that you might be feeling. Thank you so much. If you even have more questions, you can tell your parents to reach out to us on social media and we’ll try to answer everything we can and make sure we get through this hurricane season together. It was so much fun. Thank you. Thank you for this and thank you so much for hanging out with us. Let’s stay safe and track each storm this season.
Tropical Storm Oscar forms near Turks and Caicos Islands
Updated: 11:18 AM EDT Oct 19, 2024
Tropical Storm Oscar has formed just east of the Turks and Caicos Islands, according to the National Hurricane Center. >> Video above: Hurricane Kidcast: What’s a hurricane? Oscar is moving toward the west at 13 mph. Maximum sustained winds are 40 mph with higher gusts. The estimated minimum central pressure is 1007 mb.Some intensification is possible over the next day or so, followed by little change in strength, the NHC said. The government of the Bahamas has issued a tropical storm warning for the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Southeastern Bahamas.The government of Cuba has issued a tropical storm warning for the provinces of Guantanamo, Holguin, and Las Tunas and a tropical storm watch for Camaguey. The storm is not expected to impact Florida as high pressure in the state is expected to protect Florida from tropical activity through the end of the month.Tracking the TropicsThe NHC is also tracking Tropical Storm Nadine, which is expected to make landfall near the Yucatan Peninsula on Saturday evening. >> More on Nadine hereFlorida was lashed by back-to-back storms in the last few weeks. Many areas are still recovering from Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton. More: Chopper 2 video shows significant Milton damage in Orange CityMore: Milton leaves burning power lines, flooded streets, toppled trees in Central Florida | Pictures, videosFirst Warning Weather Stay with WESH 2 online and on-air for the most accurate Central Florida weather forecast.RadarSevere Weather AlertsDownload the WESH 2 News app to get the most up-to-date weather alerts. The First Warning Weather team includes First Warning Chief Meteorologist Tony Mainolfi, Eric Burris, Kellianne Klass, Marquise Meda and Cam Tran.
ORLANDO, Fla. —
Tropical Storm Oscar has formed just east of the Turks and Caicos Islands, according to the National Hurricane Center.
>> Video above: Hurricane Kidcast: What’s a hurricane?
Oscar is moving toward the west at 13 mph.
Maximum sustained winds are 40 mph with higher gusts.
The estimated minimum central pressure is 1007 mb.
Some intensification is possible over the next day or so, followed by little change in strength, the NHC said.
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The government of the Bahamas has issued a tropical storm warning for the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Southeastern Bahamas.
The government of Cuba has issued a tropical storm warning for the provinces of Guantanamo, Holguin, and Las Tunas and a tropical storm watch for Camaguey.
The storm is not expected to impact Florida as high pressure in the state is expected to protect Florida from tropical activity through the end of the month.
Tracking the Tropics
The NHC is also tracking Tropical Storm Nadine, which is expected to make landfall near the Yucatan Peninsula on Saturday evening.
>> More on Nadine here
Florida was lashed by back-to-back storms in the last few weeks. Many areas are still recovering from Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton.
More: Chopper 2 video shows significant Milton damage in Orange City
More: Milton leaves burning power lines, flooded streets, toppled trees in Central Florida | Pictures, videos
First Warning Weather
Stay with WESH 2 online and on-air for the most accurate Central Florida weather forecast.
Download the WESH 2 News app to get the most up-to-date weather alerts.
The First Warning Weather team includes First Warning Chief Meteorologist Tony Mainolfi, Eric Burris, Kellianne Klass, Marquise Meda and Cam Tran.