Well, here we go. The forecast has improved for where I live, with weather.com's hour-by-hour predictions for the wind speed now maxing out at 62 mph at 11 a.m. tomorrow. The timeline seems to have slowed down a bit, since earlier in the day the prediction was a peak of 76 mph at 8 a.m. At this point, the radar images show the storm moving on a northeasterly track with Naples square in the bullseye. I've read on a couple of different websites that because the storm is picking up speed (now moving at 15 mph and still accelerating), there will be a significant difference in the strength of the winds on the north side of the track and the south side. The north side subtracts the forward wind speed and the south side adds it on, so it obviously makes quite a difference.
Even if we don't get sustained hurricane force winds here, we'll still probably lose power for a while. I'm prepared for that. I've got all my supplies laid in and I don't have to go anywhere any time soon, so I'll just sit tight after the storm passes until the power comes back on.
The forecast for the next few days is for much cooler weather than normal, since the storm will be sucking cold air down from the north. We're talking about highs in the low 70s and lows in the 50s. Ironically, the problem may not be a lack of air conditiong but a lack of heat, if the power stays off. I'll just bundle up in the long-sleeve shirts and sweaters I don't normally get to wear.
