Hurricane Worries at KSC
Hurricane Matthew poses a significant threat to Kennedy Space Center, Ars Technica
“Ars reached out to Kennedy Space Center’s Amber Philman on Tuesday afternoon, and she said the center is currently at HURCON III status, which means officials there expect sustained 50 knot winds within 72 hours. Hurricane preparations and facility securing will begin Wednesday morning, she said. Other tenants are also closely watching the storm.”
Orbital View As Hurricane Matthew Threatens U.S. East Coast, EUMETSAT
We are closing at 1 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, Oct. 5, due to Hurricane Matthew. The center will be closed on Thursday, Oct. 6 & Friday, Oct. 7.
— NASA Kennedy / KSC (@NASAKennedy) October 5, 2016
While the wind may be of concern for buildings. I am more concerned with coastal erosion, storm surge and floding of the many launch/landing/integration/etc complexes at CCAFS/KSC.
TLDR: Will the VAB get its’ feet wet?
HURCON III! does NASA need their own nomenclature? Had to laugh when I saw that. 50 know is sub-Cat 1, which starts at 64 knots. In fairness though I suppose that the unusual buildings and facilities need a more granular warning system.
It sure sounds official though.
Not NASA, USAF bases.
HURCON in the Atlantic, TC-COR in the Pacific.
They are not based on the “Category” system, they are about time-to-impact, not storm-strength.
Level 5 – Potential for >50 knot winds within 4 days.
Level 4 – Within 3 days.
Level 3 – Within 2 days. (Note she got this wrong.)
Level 2 – Within 24hrs.
Level 1 – Within 12hrs, if gale force winds are not yet occurring.
Level 1C – Within 12hrs, if gale force winds are already occurring.
Level 1E – Now. Current winds over 50 knots.
Level 1R – Storm passed, still experiencing gale force winds.
Watch or Stormwatch – Storm passed, gale force winds have also passed, but damage might still be occurring. (Storm-torn debris blowing around. Wind-damaged buildings taking on water, etc.)
Hence most US mainland bases are at permanent Level 5 during Atlantic hurricane season, regardless of actual storm activity. Likewise, bases in Japan are on Level 4 between June through November, every year. And Guam is on permanent level 4, 12 months of the year, even if there’s not a low pressure system in sight.
There’s a bunch of set procedures for each base, for each alert level.
The civilian system has something similar with the “Watch” (48hrs) and “Warning” (36hrs) alerts, one pair each for tropical storms and hurricanes.
Aside:
Roman numerals (HURCON III) is a very dumb way to describe the level, however. The difference between III and II, and between II and I, is too subtle in many fonts, bad print, poor light, and weak eyesight. The military is usually better at enforcing very deliberate clarity.