If You Squint You Can See Hillary Clinton Dodging Sniper Fire

I keep complaining about TV people who discuss hurricanes lying and exaggerating. The other day I cited the NHC as a better source. Well last night, I saw something discouraging on the NHC website.

When hurricanes approach you, there are two types of alerts the NHC will issue: watches and warnings. I will give you the OFFICIAL definitions of these alerts. A watch means winds of a certain speed are POSSIBLE at your location. A warning means they are EXPECTED at your location.

Those definitions come from the NHC, not my imagination.

If the NHC says your house is in a hurricane warning area, that necessarily means they believe it is MORE LIKELY THAN NOT that you will get hurricane-force winds. If the likelihood is less than 50%, you shouldn’t be under a warning. Obvious. In fact, “expected” should imply a probability near 100%.

Last night, the NHC had much of Florida’s east coast under a hurricane warning. That means they were saying the probability of hurricane-force winds was better than 50%. Okay, then. If this was true, then their wind speed probability map should agree.

I looked at the map. These maps are color-coded. The map showed the warning areas following the border between yellow and light green. Yellow means 30-40%. Light green means 20-30%. These are the very most-imperiled areas in the state.

How can hurricane winds be “expected” if the chance of hurricane winds is at, or far below, 40%?

I don’t see how this could happen accidentally. You would think the people who make the probability maps would be in agreement with the people who make the maps labeling the watch and warning areas.

Either the definitions are wrong, or someone posted watch and warning information which is not even close to right.

Most people aren’t going to examine this stuff the way I do. Most will listen to the TV hysteria, believe everything they hear, and leave it at that. Those that look at the NHC site aren’t likely to compare maps.

I’m not happy with the NHC. It’s unfortunate that I have to root around on the web to find out what’s really happening. When one of the best sources posts dubious information, it makes it worse.

The storm is way out at sea. The maximum wind is about 110 mph, or category 2. The winds are dropping. The storm’s eye is forecast to miss the United States completely. The little “M’s” on the forecast track, indicating “major hurricane,” are now gone. They have been replaced with “H’s.”

This is very consistent with the REAL news I’ve been accessing for the last few days. It’s sad that it conflicts with the histrionics of the TV performers and the beliefs of the people who rely on them.

In other wind-related news, I’ve been looking into air compressors. I have a 5-HP Curtis, which is a very nice compressor for a home shop, but its output is right on the borderline between fail and pass. It puts out 17.3 cubic feet per minute, which is wonderful for most purposes, but there are a lot of tools that require just a little bit more. If your output is too low, your tool will slow down until it’s not working adequately, and then you have to sit and wait for the compressor to catch up.

My compressor is in Coral Gables. I was planning to have it moved to me here, but now I’m wondering if it’s worth it. I can get a 7.5-HP job and sell the Curtis. I would get 23 cfm. This should make for a better experience when using things like buffers, die grinders, and sanders.

I could sell the Curtis and order a 7.5-HP Curtis or Quincy. I would be set for life, pretty much. But then I have to ask myself: what will I do for a compressor in my other shop? I’m going to want the bigger one for metalwork, mainly. I would have to use it for sanding wood, too, so sometimes I would have to move the wood to an area outside the metal shop temporarily. I would need the other compressor for things like inflating tires and air hammering. I could get a small compressor for maybe $500, tax included. I have a small Eaton Chinese compressor already, but it has started leaking oil, and I’m tired of fixing it.

I could also put the big new compressor in the wood shop and run a 1″ PVC line underground to the metal shop.

I guess that was troll bait. People will see “PVC” and get hysterical. PVC air lines explode sometimes, and they throw shrapnel. But it’s okay to run them underground, where they can’t hurt anyone except moles and gophers.

I’m researching it. If you bury air line, water condenses in it. You can blow the water out occasionally, which is annoying, or you can use an air dryer every single time you use the compressor, which is also, but less, annoying. I have a great electric air dryer, but I don’t want to run it every time I use air.

I could just put the big compressor in one shop and the old Curtis in the other shop. It’s going to cost me a certain amount of money to move my machine tools, and adding the old compressor won’t change the figure, so maybe selling it is a bad idea.

I guess I should keep it and consider getting a second machine later.

My most pressing shop-related job is getting the table saw running and mobile. If I can do that, I can reduce the gigantic shelf complex that sucks up one corner of the building, and I can turn the wood into smaller shelves that are actually useful. Then I can store more stuff and get it out of the way.

Here’s hoping the Atlantic doesn’t try to send me any more presents this year.