Hello Bonnie & Charley

[dexter]

I live in Augusta, Ga and it looks like the two new storms are coming directly through here. We are expecting up to 10 inches of rain through Saturday. I hope everyone south of here stays safe...we need the rain. I hope that all the storms are gone by 8/28 when we depart on the Zuiderdam.

[Krazy Kruizers]

:) dexter

You should be all right for your cruise on the 28th. Haven't heard of a 4th tropical depression (yet).

Enjoy your cruise - right now it looks like you will have good sailing weather.

:)

[HeatherInFlorida]

Dexter, definitely off subject, but we were going to be driving from South Florida up 95 leaving here early Sat. and are probably cancelling because they're predicting heavy flooding all along the 95 corridor.Are they predicting hurricane weather for you folks in Georgia for Saturday? Thanks!!!

[RevNeal]

I pray everyone comes through his double-whammy safely! I wouldn't want to be caught in the path of these two storms! From the looks of things, it's going to be WET.

[Tatka]

:) dexter

You should be all right for your cruise on the 28th. Haven't heard of a 4th tropical depression (yet).

Enjoy your cruise - right now it looks like you will have good sailing weather.

:)
What about 21st? :o

[divinggirl]

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but checking the Atlantic satellite on weather.com there are some rumblings and grumblings coming off the coast of Africa...nobody can even remotely say what the situation will be like 9 days from now when we depart, but there is definitely activity to be wary of. :mad:

[Orcrone]

Tatka and dexter,

Realistically there's no way to tell for sure. We're now 9 and 16 days away from the 8/21 and 8/28 sailings. That's plenty of time for something to form in the Caribbean. Just keep in mind that the captains have the same access to the forecasts as everyone else. They'll sail around the storms, change the itineraries, stay at sea rather than go to a port, etc. in order to avoid a storm.

[Orcrone]

Dexter, definitely off subject, but we were going to be driving from South Florida up 95 leaving here early Sat. and are probably cancelling because they're predicting heavy flooding all along the 95 corridor.Are they predicting hurricane weather for you folks in Georgia for Saturday? Thanks!!!Heather,

We live in the southeastern section of Virginia, about 800 miles north of you. The first storm is supposed to be hitting here on Friday and the second one on Saturday. So if you're not leaving until Saturday AM I think you'll be well behind the storms. So as long as I-95 doesn't flood out (which I've never heard of it doing) you should be fine.:)

My mom lives a little south of you in Boynton Beach, so I know the drive all too well.

[spcl4cs_gal]

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but checking the Atlantic satellite on weather.com there are some rumblings and grumblings coming off the coast of Africa...nobody can even remotely say what the situation will be like 9 days from now when we depart, but there is definitely activity to be wary of. :mad:

I'm not all that concerned about the cruise leaving on the 21st...it's whether or not my flight from Toronto will arrive in time to get on the Z. :(

[divinggirl]

I'm not all that concerned about the cruise leaving on the 21st...it's whether or not my flight from Toronto will arrive in time to get on the Z. :(

Would that be a weather-related concern or a scheduling concern, or a combination of both? Do you have travel insurance, it's not too late to buy it if you don't!!

[dexter]

I can report to you now that it is raining heavily here in Augusta and the thunder is rolling. Coupled with what we are expected to get from Charlie, we should get 10 inches of rain here through Saturday. The winds are predicted to be 35mph tonight. It's too soon to tell what Charlie will do, but they say it is coming in this direction eventually also. If you are driving along I-95 I really don't think you'll have any difficulty.

[spcl4cs_gal]

Would that be a weather-related concern or a scheduling concern, or a combination of both? Do you have travel insurance, it's not too late to buy it if you don't!!

Totally weather related...the flight is supposed to arrive in FLL a bit after 11am. Wonder what the chances are that they would put me on another flight...given that they would all be going in the same direction, that doesn't look good. :(

[divinggirl]

Are you sailing this Sat? I though your were on our 8/21 sailing, and it's a bit early to worry about the weather next weekend!! I too arrive at FLL a bit after 11 and am not worried at all, but am just keeping an eye on that Atlantic satellite.... Now, if we're talking about TS Debbie or Elmer or whatever this time next week, THEN I'll begin to worry!! :o

[Tatka]

I also concern about our flight :( (We should arrive there on August 21 after 11!!!)

Let's keep fingers crossed! :)

[Orcrone]

A couple of words of advice. One is purchase trip insurance and/or fly in a day early (preferably both). Even if there is no problem, why start off your vacation worrying about whether you'll make it. Last year we flew in to Tampa two days early and stayed right on the beach. We were already rested when we got on the ship.

And living on the east coast it was the first time I got to see the sun set over the water.

[HeatherInFlorida]

Many, many thanks to those of you answering my questions about weather along I-95!!! We've cancelled our trip. We'd be sort of between storms, but they're predicting heavy rain and flooding all weekend up and down the entire seaboard ... not our idea of a fun driving trip. If we went we had to be in NY no later than Monday morning, so it's just too risky.

The best laid plans!.....can't really count on anything. Thanks again:o

[spcl4cs_gal]

Are you sailing this Sat? I though your were on our 8/21 sailing, and it's a bit early to worry about the weather next weekend!! I too arrive at FLL a bit after 11 and am not worried at all, but am just keeping an eye on that Atlantic satellite.... Now, if we're talking about TS Debbie or Elmer or whatever this time next week, THEN I'll begin to worry!! :o

I am on your August 21 sailing but with the way storms happen during this time of the year, I just hope things slow down a bit until I am on the ground at least. :)

[ASM]

I'm about 2 1/2 hours north of Atlanta just off the I-85 corridor and we've started getting rain already. It's not really heavy yet but those of us in this part of the world can recognize the difference in a summer rain and this sign of things to come. At least it will be cooler. I think we're in for heavy rain throughout the weekend and then we'll see what else is brewing out there. At least it doesn't appear to be another Hugo. That WAS bad. Best of luck to the Keys and all you Floridians.

[Lois R]

:) Alison, Tatka and anyone else sailing after this weekend.....hopefully by your sailing things will calm down. Looks like Tampa is looking for some bad weather right now though...good thoughts go out to any of you down that way.
Just keep your eye on the news... (2 at once is enough)...hopefully, next weekend you will have sunny skies to fly down here in...and smooth sailing too:)

[spcl4cs_gal]

Not that I'm any expert on these storms but it seems that it took Charley a good week to cross the Atlantic and make his way towards Florida. With what is in the Atlantic now (a few rain storms from the look of things), I think the 21st should be fairly clear. Maybe a few showers but at least planes will land and ships will sail. :)

[Tatka]

Not that I'm any expert on these storms but it seems that it took Charley a good week to cross the Atlantic and make his way towards Florida. With what is in the Atlantic now (a few rain storms from the look of things), I think the 21st should be fairly clear. Maybe a few showers but at least planes will land and ships will sail. :)
:D :D :D That's all I could say.

This is my DH/DS second cruise and I want them to enjoy it so we'll continue to book them! (Already have one for April ;) )

[spcl4cs_gal]

How close to a vacation can you book travel insurance? Just in case.... ;)

[jazzsea]

I've only lived in Florida for 15 years so I am far from an expert. However, most of the storms that come through here happen in August. In September or October the storms tend to track up the East coast and make landfall in the Carolinas. In late July and early August the storms seem to track across the Caribbean and up the Gulf of Mexico. Our first serious storm after we moved here from Chicago was Andrew and we now take every warning very seriously.

It is cloudy here now and the winds are just beginning to stir. Our rain is supposed to start after Charlie passes over the Keys. Something about the upper level "Low" from Charlie mixing with the upper level "Low" from Bonnie.
(There is the making of a joke there. Never mind.) I don't mean to be trivial about this, honest.

We will break for lunch in an hour and begin to bring in or stow anything that might blow away. Good luck to all of you.

[spcl4cs_gal]

All the best, Carol. :)

[ASM]

Our skies are already clearing from Bonnie and it looks like the "rain event" predicted for the Carolinas will pretty much miss us also. Good luck to you folks in the Tampa area. Apparently FLL will not be in the storm path so sailings should be fine. There may be air delays but even that doesn't look too likely at this point. Here's hoping Charlie loses steam. My DD and family live in Charleston so we're not looking forward to September. A previous poster was oh-so-right about that being rough for us.

[HeatherInFlorida]

From all accounts, the Carolinas will definitely be getting a huge "rain event" when Charley comes through over over the next couple of days. Charley is a Cat 2 already. A pretty major storm compared to Bonnie. Even here in West Palm they're predicting very high winds and major rains.

All I can think of is Bonnie Prince Charley. But you'd have to be pretty old to remember when Prince Charles was born:D . That's what he was called. Too bad they didn't call Charley "Clyde"!! Then we'd have Bonnie & Clyde;)

[ASM]

According to the current path the rains will head up through the midlands of SC, bypassing the upstate where I live and the coast where DD lives. It might change though. That's an unusual pattern for us. Maybe Cuba will slow Charlie down; it looks like landfall there. Bonnie Prince Charlie is a riot (but neither one is very bonny, huh?)!

[Lois R]

Hi:) It doesn't look like Charley is going to slow down at this point....actually they keep saying he is going to get stronger:( .......when you see ALL THE CARS heading away from Tampa......they are expecting a direct hit:(

[LAFFNVEGAS]

All this talk of Bonnie and Charley, does anyone else think they should of named Charley "Clyde":D It would of been more fitting:p

[jhannah]

Yeah, Lois. I thought of that, too. Wouldn't that have been a hoot?
I'm so glad we don't have this sort of weather to deal with. I know it's not always comfortable outdoors here in the desert. But it generally last a few months and then we're mild the rest of the year. Small price to pay, IMO, for not having to deal with hurricanes, tornadoes, ice storms, etc.

[spcl4cs_gal]

This was picked up from the Herald in their Tropical Weather Outlook section this evening:

"Cloudiness and showers associated with a westward moving tropical wave are centered about 1400 miles east of the Windward Islands. Development...if any...will be slow to occur.

Cloudiness and showers associated with another tropical wave located several hundred miles southeast of the Cape Verde show signs of organization. This system will be monitored for additional signs of development.

Elsewhere...tropical storm formation is not expected through Friday."

For all of us sailing next Saturday, let's hope things are REALLY slow to develop. :(

[dexter]

Yep...it looks like Bonnie is gonna be pretty much a paper tiger by the time it gets here to Augusta. Actually we have had only about a half inch of rain and it looks like it is over. Now...we wait for Charlie.