Hurricane Dorian- Florida Sept 2019

Hurricane Dorian

Florida - Sept. 2019

Our attempt to chase Hurricane Dorian was one of the most frustrating tropical chases of my career. I teamed up with 3 other colleagues from The Weather Network and Meteo Media and we flew into Orlando. The storm was forecast to cross the Bahamas, then directly impact the east coast of Florida as a major hurricane. Oh course, that's not what happened. Over the next few days, the storm slowed to a crawl and gained strength. Dorian grew into a monster category 5 hurricane as is it stalled over parts of the Bahamas (Abaco Island and Elbow Cay). We tried to make it out to the Bahamas in time, but the flights and ferries had all been canceled, plus we would not have been able to broadcast from the Bahamas with the equipment that we had. So, our only choice was to wait and watch from afar in Florida as one of the strongest hurricanes in history ravaged the Bahamas. So close, but yet so far away.

The track path of Hurricane Dorian from the National Hurricane Centre. As the days progressed, we watched it go from a direct hit on Florida to merely grazing the coast, to staying offshore. Dorian as the eyewall starts impacting the Bahamas. It was a category 5 storm at this point and was still intensifying. We would do daily reports for The Weather Network from various Florida beaches. The sky often turned unusual colours at sunset as the clouds from the outer bands of the hurricane reached us. One of the outer band storms coming ashore south of Cape Canaveral, Florida. The team L-R: Myself, Jaclyn Whittal, Tim Millar, Mark Robinson. (Not shown Veronique Saumure Perso) The incredible eye of Hurricane Dorian as seen from space. While it was disappointing to not be able to experience the core of this storm, perhaps it was best that we didn't. Dorian absolutely ravaged the Bahamas, and we would not have been very safe there. Only a couple of storm chasers actually did make it out there, and they had to be rescued after the storm. I feel for the people of the Bahamas, and I wish them a swift recovery, but it will be generations before the memory of Hurricane Dorian fades for them.


The track path of Hurricane Dorian from the National Hurricane Centre. As the days progressed, we watched it go from a direct hit on Florida to merely grazing the coast, to staying offshore.	Dorian as the eyewall starts impacting the Bahamas. It was a category 5 storm at this point and was still intensifying.	We would do daily reports for The Weather Network from various Florida beaches. The sky often turned unusual colours at sunset as the clouds from the outer bands of the hurricane reached us.


One of the outer band storms coming ashore south of Cape Canaveral, Florida.	The team L-R: Myself, Jaclyn Whittal, Tim Millar, Mark Robinson. (Not shown Veronique Saumure Perso)	The incredible eye of Hurricane Dorian as seen from space.