More on Wilmington Geography and Other Comments
Posted by Tim_NC on 10/1/2010, 7:35 am
As noted before, Wilmington is a river city, not an ocean city. The core city is on the Cape Fear River. Of course there's a metro area, but the actual coast is a series of small separate towns.

Notice the difference in the dot locations for an example; Myrtle Beach SC is an 'ocean city'; Wilmington is not: http://www.erh.noaa.gov/ilm/

And more precisely, my location is inside the empty gray 'box' just north of Seagate (seen on the geographical map) http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?site=ilm&FcstType=text&zmx=1&zmy=1&map.x=268&map.y=105&site=ILM

The airport sits on a filled in swamp that is in mostly surrounded by low hills. The coastal area here is not dead-flat as it is in Delaware or South Florida; it has small hills. The airport is 30' above sea level. I'm five miles closer to the ocean, yet I'm 35' above sea level!

Many locals are well aware why the airport reports low winds speeds from coastal storms; it's removed from the coast of course, but it's also in a small valley.

Take Hurricane Hazel for example. Myrtle Beach, SC, on the left side of the storm recorded 102mph sustained winds while Wilmington, on the right side of the storm reported only 98 mph winds; huh? Yet winds in the nearby beach towns just a few miles south and east of Wilmington, (also on the right side of the storm) were 125 to140mph!

Wilmington airport is the worst possible wind indicator for coastal storms. Most people here know that.

I reported generically (because I don't have instruments) what was going on at MY LOCATION; and added whatever official data I could find that wasn't already being broadcast on television.

As for Wilmington itself - I thought the TV was doing enough of that.

You know I shoot from the hip. I dislike hype and false info as much as anyone. I'm surprised you or others would think I was just making up weather info out of thin air.

If y'all want to just use your TVs and official data from the airport as your sources for what's going on in Cape Fear, fine; so be it.

It was bad enough being repeatedly attacked by Doorman since returning; worse yet that no poster dared rebut him; and now I'm belittled for reporting actual news that wasn't on TV (other than Jim Cantore's short visit to my neighborhood.)

Wonderful!



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New Low Rapidly Deepening Off South Carolina Coast - Tim_NC, 9/30/2010, 1:41 am
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