Hurricane Fay Disney Resources

Technically, it's not a hurricane yet, but Fay is expected to become a hurricane at some point. Since I am traveling to MCO - Orlando Airport - on Monday, August 18th, I've been keeping a close eye on Fay. Since I'm a meteorologist, this is the perfect combination for me - the potential to be in a tropical storm or hurricane - and being at Walt Disney World - woohoo! I've been chatting with a mom from Houston that is at the Fort Wilderness cabins right now, and she has provided some great information as well.

First, and foremost - I recommend checking out the National Hurricane Center. For those traveling to the Orlando area that don't usually have to look up information online - this is the country's official source of hurricane and tropical storm information.

National Hurricane Center (staffed 24 hours):
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

National Hurricane Center's Tropical Storm/Hurricane Fay Special Page:
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/graphics_at1.shtml?5day#contents

National Hurricane Center's Forecast Discussion (some technical stuff - but good info!):
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCDAT1+shtml/170902.shtml?

Another good page is the Orlando Sentinel's Homepage (24 hour coverage):
http://www.orlandosentinel.com

Plot of the various computer models:
http://weather.orlandosentinel.com/tropical/tracking/at200806_model.html

Storm- Centered Satellite Image:
http://weather.orlandosentinel.com/tropical/tracking/at200806_sat.html

Interactive Map:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/weather/orl-hurricane-storms-map,0,4692609.htmlpage

Orlando Sentinel's Hurricane Blog - VERY USEFUL INFORMATION HERE:
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_weather_hurricane/

Melbourne, Florida National Weather Service - the office responsible for Orlando:
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/mlb/

Here is a great message board post on DisBoards:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1921596

I started this message board thread on DisBoards (resort policy):
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1921807

Walt Disney World Hurricane Policy:
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/common/helpFAQ?id=HelpFAQHurricanePage

If you have another great source of Hurricane or Tropical Storm resources for Disney, be sure to let me know and I will append the list, ok? From everything I've heard from locals or people who have been through tropical storms or hurricanes at Walt Disney World, it is no big deal if it is a lower category storm. So far, it's expected to be a Tropical Storm or Category 1, so lots of wind, tons of rain and there will likely be some tornadoes as well. Disney has a 24 hour Emergency Operations Center (EOC), and the National Weather Service in Melbourne will issue tornado warnings and hurricane local statements for the area.

I'll try to update later with more information! Best of luck to everyone!!

--- Hurricane Disney Dean

Comments

[penny]

Hey all,
Suppose to fly to the happiest place on earth tomorrow morning!!! What will we encounter???
The rainiest place on earth?? Just hope our flight makes it in.