Tropical cyclone Mala: cat-4 landfall?

[phantom power]

Yet another storm that suddenly went ape-shit. Yesterday this thing had winds of only about 50mph.

[Dr.Phool]

1. WTF?!!!! In the Northern Hemisphere already?

I guess hurricane season is starting early this year.

[Warpy]

2. I've been watching ocean temps at the NOAA site

and they're warming up fast off the coast of Florida and in the Gulf.

I no longer have anything left in Florida, though I feel very sorry for old folks who chased that dream of a warm paradise and ended up on a hurricane magnet, especially the ones whose savings would stretch only as far as a doublewide.

[phantom power]

3. I don't know what's normal for the Indian ocean. But it's at 85F.

[NNadir]

4. I know we talk about this often, but damn, I'm scared.

A powerful hurricane can rip my state apart, as I'm well aware. Even if it doesn't, they will rip someone's lives apart.

I know that the meteorologists you follow for us won't say it's definitely related, but as someone who will never be required to defend a paper's statistics, it seems pretty clear to me that something very profound is happening with the energy of storms.

[phantom power]

5. If you never wake up in a cold sweat, you aren't paying attention.

[phantom power]

6. Cyclone Mala kills at least four people in Myanmar

Four people were killed and 31 injured as Cyclone Mala battered Myanmar's Ayeyarwaddy delta, its west coast and the outskirts of the capital, state-run media reported on Monday.

The tropical cyclone, packing winds of 240 kilometers an hour, slammed into Myanmar on Friday and Saturday destroying hundreds of houses, two beach resorts and at least five factories, the Kyemon daily and the International Federation of the Red Cross said.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/7598_1687683,000500020010.htm

The worst damage appeared to be just outside the capital Yangon, where strong winds damaged more than 150 buildings, the official said.

A soft drink and flour factory collapsed and dozens of buildings lost their roofs, the official said. Police and soldiers stood guard as municipal workers cleaned up the twisted metal, downed utility polls and shattered glass.

"This was the worst damage I have ever seen in my life," said a resident from the industrial zone. "Even containers fell, and cars were blown into the air by what looked like a tornado."

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WEATHER/04/29/myanmar.cyclone.ap/