Isabel

I have been checking observations up and down the east coast this morning, and I have discovered that Isabel has a very irregular wind field. For instance, squally winds began to reach Philadelphia about 6 AM, although no rain bands have actually reached the area. Isabel once was a very strong hurricane, and there might be pockets of energy within it that were not utilized in its structural change earlier this week. For those inland, this is somewhat worrisome, because it means one's weather could deteriorate quickly and unexpectedly, especially in the Appalachians. Hurricane hunter aircraft have been reporting for the last 72 hours that there are very strong winds in Isabel that have as yet not mixed to the ground. I would not be surprised to hear about hurricane even 100 mph plus wind gusts in West Virginia and the piedmont of Virginia this evening and overnight. Hence, if you're out and about inland, winds are still a concern. Fortunately, most National Weather Service offices are cognizant of this and have made wind forecasts that would normally be generous. Additionally, any location that is entering the east side of this system, as parts of southeastern Virginia are doing at the moment, might experience a surprisingly stronger wind field than they received on the front side. Isabel's weakening phase and change of structure over the last four days concentrated much of its convection and organization on its east side, as is typical in weakening hurricanes.

Miscellaneous

I'm in Chicago and having a very good time. I would like to warn my Chicago friends that deworming and patching vulnerable computers has become urgent and serious business here. If you are bringing your computer to school, please take the time to get the patches from Microsoft, while you're still at home. It will save you time and effort when you run the deworming software here. Remember, you should under no circumstances connect to the network without installing deworming software.

ESA(20030918.1)