Tropical Storm Fay - Eyewall Over Moore Haven, FL

August 24, 2008 | Moore Haven, Florida | Vetting explained

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Last updated: August 24, 2008

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***(Newly edited videos due to previously poor sound qauality) The Bear, amateur storm chaser and creator of http://www.bearpawsweather.com, took these videos while the eyewall was passing over Moore Haven, FL on Tuesday (8/19) afternoon. Some were taken from outside of the vehicle, others were taken from inside the vehicle. The center of the eye was calm as some of the videos indicated, however, as the the eyewall passed over the winds were approximately 84mph, as indicated by a anemometer. (Full Detailed Story Below) I've been a weather enthusiast for years; my love for the weather started when I was about 13; that was when Hurricane Andrew came across the state. I've always been "that guy" who goes outside during the middle of a tropical storm or hurricane. I was a weather intern at the local news stations for 4-5 years throughout my college years. While there my passion grew more and more and I knew I had to get involved in the weather in one way or another. After Hurricane Charley passed, I decided to create my own website, hence the name, BearPaws Weather, my tropical link http://www.bearpawsweather.com/tropical/index.html has generated several thousand visitors the past few days. That section is dedicated totally towards tropical storms and hurricanes. I do no advertising, and have no sponsorships; it has gotten passed around through word of mouth. Monday began with looking like we were going to have Fay as a CAT 1 or CAT 2 hurricane passing directly over us Tuesday morning. As the day passed the forecast track shifted further and further south and the organization was poor. Sitting at my house in Fort Myers, FL Monday night, the weather slowly deteriorated and the rain began with light winds. Throughout the night, I got up several times checking on the storm and watching the radar as the track shifted further and further south and never got too organized. Finally I decided to get up and watched Fay on the radar make landfall close to Marco Island, FL at Cape Romano as a 60 mph tropical storm. I watched and observed Fay and her northerly track throughout the morning and could slowly see the development of an eye. As the pressure dropped, Fay gained strength to 65mph and a more developed eye as it progressed inland over land. I guess it was about noon or so, I was sitting at the computer and talking to my wife about the storm when she decided to lay our son down for his nap and take a nap for herself. Instead of sitting at home in front of the computer watching the storm pass, I decided I would go "chase" it. It was about 1pm when I hit the western eyewall of Tropical storm Fay traveling east on SR80 just west of US Hwy 27 and south of Moore Haven, Fl. As I proceeded north on 27 the wind and rain continued to blow, the road turned west and that was when I saw a fellow storm chaser with his monitoring instruments attached to the roof of his car sitting on the bridge crossing the Caloosahatchee River and Moore Haven locks. I continued west on 27, the rain and winds slowly decreased, I was determined to find the eye. That was when I turned north on SR 78. The rain and winds continued to decrease as I proceeded a short ways north until it eventually diminished and the sun peaked through the sky. I WAS IN THE EYE OF THE TROPICAL STORM. This was the first time I was ever in the eye of a storm, as the time it seemed so surreal I couldn't believe I was actually there. I have wanted to be in the eye of a storm for years and I never took the time and/or risks to do it. I believed Fay was a weak enough storm I thought it would be a good one to start with. I waited there for a while took some video as well as some pictures with my digital camera until I decided to go find the fellow storm chaser I saw on the bridge. I saw him, whom I learned later was Tim, and flagged him down and we met up at the intersection of US Hwy 27 and SR 78 in Moore Haven, FL. According to his professional equipment, he indicated that the passing eyewall had generated wind speeds up to 84mph which was passed on to the National weather Service and included in the 2pm update. The calm winds and sunny skies remained for about 20-30 minutes. After speaking with Tim for a short while and exchanging information, I could see the southern eyewall of the storm slowly approaching in the distance. I continued traveling north and then east on SR 78 and paralleled the western and northern edges of Lake Okeechobee eventually re-encountering the southern eyewall. The wind speeds within the passing eyewall were constant, continuing to gust above hurricane force, the rain poured from the clouds, and as it fell the winds were so strong it was blowing horizontally across the roadway. I continued traveling on 78 stopping periodically to take photos and video of the storm until I reached the intersection of SR 78 and US Hwy 98 in Okeechobee, FL and decided to turn around and head home, back to Fort Myers.

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