Hurricane_Isabel

Pre-Landfall 2 | Summary
Posting Date: September 16, 2003, 4:00:00 PM

Hurricane Isabel, the ninth named storm of the 2003 Atlantic hurricane season and the strongest storm to develop in the Atlantic since Hurricane Andrew in 1992, is expected to make landfall along the North Carolina coast around 2 p.m. Thursday. As of 5 p.m. EDT Tuesday, September 16, Isabel was positioned about 570 miles (917 km) south-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and moving toward the northwest at about 8 mph (13 kph). This motion is expected to continue for the next 24 hours. A hurricane watch is in effect from Little River Inlet, South Carolina to Chincoteague, Virginia. A tropical storm watch is in effect from Chincoteague, Virginia to Little Egg Inlet, New Jersey. Evacuation orders have also been issued for North Carolina’s Outer Banks. Current maximum sustained winds are about 105 mph (168 kph) with higher gusts. Minimum central pressure is estimated at 959 mb, making Isabel a Category 2 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Intensity Scale. Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 160 miles (257 km) and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 275 miles (442 km). Using the most recent information about the meteorological parameters of this storm, the AIR tropical cyclone modeling team has run many scenarios representing a variety of assumptions about the storm’s future track and intensity. Losses could significantly increase if the storm takes a more northerly track and intensifies. It is important to note that there is still considerable uncertainty surrounding the actual parameters of this storm. CATRADER® and CLASIC/2™ clients can now view wind speed and loss maps on the Scenarios page of this website. In addition, event sets representing the full range of simulated scenarios are available for download. AIR will continue to monitor this storm and will post additional information as the storm approaches landfall.

Pre-Landfall 2 | Downloads
Posting Date: September 16, 2003, 4:00:00 PM