|
Synopsis of FCMP Deployment
Isidore became a hurricane at 1800 UTC on September 19, 2002 as it
tracked west-northwest across the Cayman Islands. As the cyclone
neared the southwest coast of the Isle of Youth, Cuba, the FCMP
deployed one UF team to monitor the storm from Key West, Florida.
Isidore moved westerly, however, and the team only succeeded in
capturing the outermost bands of the cyclone. Isidore moved west and
southwestward toward the Yucatan Peninsula, reaching its maximum
intensity of 56.6 m/s (126.7 mph) at 1800 UTC on the 21st. The cyclone
remained nearly stationary for 24 to 36 hours over northern Yucatan
and weakened to a minimal tropical storm, before it moved northward
over the Gulf of Mexico.
UF and CU FCMP teams remained on standby as the cyclone moved
northward into the Gulf of Mexico, anticipating the possibility that
Isidore might strike somewhere in the array of instrumented homes
located on the west end of the panhandle of Florida. On the 24th, UF
met CU in Gulf Breeze, Florida, to ready three instrumented homes and
set up three towers (T0, T1 and T2) in close proximity. Isidore made
landfall with winds of 28.3 m/s (63.4 mph) with a minimum pressure of
984 mb just west of Grand Isle, Louisiana at 0600 UTC on the 26th.
Although it weakened to a minimal tropical storm in the Gulf of
Mexico, its circulation expanded which provided significant wind (as
high as 26.9 m/s) approximately 350 km away.
Participating Team Members
Luis Aponte
Cos Gardener
Kurt Gurley, PhD
Jon Lamb
Forrest Masters
Matt McCann
Tim Reinhold, PhD
Scott Robinette
Robin Weaver
†Source: Property Claim
Services Division of the Insurance Services Office |
