(meteorobs) Re: Perseids and Hurricane Charley

[Norman W. McLeod III]

Lew should be all right for Perseid max in the Keys tonight but he needs to 
ship out tomorrow.  The Keys are now under a hurricane watch as Charley is 
nearing Jamaica, and it is expected to recurve over Florida.  This is the 
closest to Perseid max that I have ever seen with a hurricane threat.  It 
is moving very fast.  Whether we do get  to see the Perseids depends on how 
soon the outflow cirrus shield from Charley gets here.  I have more time 
than Lew from my location a hundred miles further north.  The strong 
subsidence zone around a hurricane has very clear skies.  By Friday night 
the center could be very close, or at, Fort Myers.  Same exact timing as 
Hurricane Donna 1960 Sep 8/9.  I have yet to see a hurricane during the 
daytime.  Every one of them has come at night.

There is a smaller storm, Bonnie, due to reach the Florida panhandle 
tomorrow.  I don't think there has been a double hit since the 1940's.

In 1969 I was in the Keys when Hurricane Camille went up the middle Gulf of 
Mexico to Mississippi.  It was several days after Perseid max and I felt 
more secure by the hour as Camille moved steadily northwards past the Keys 
latitude.

Norman

Norman W. McLeod III
Staff Advisor
American Meteor Society

Fort Myers, Florida
nmcleod at peganet.com