Hurricane Dennis Video...

I just posted a 9 minute video on Hurricane Dennis... This was a major hurricane John Walker and myself intercepted in Pensacola, Fl on July 10th 2005... This was the first major hurricane (120mph) US landfall during an INCREDIBLE season I'll NEVER forget for the rest of my life! On July 9th John and I started in Mobile, Al and made our way to Pascagoula, MS... On the way there we checked out Bayou La Batre, AL... I was amazed at how historic/interesting this gulf coast fishing town was but at the same time I knew in my heart you CAN'T survive a major hurricane there... The worse of Dennis thankfully missed them but unfortunately less than 2 month later Hurricane Katrina pretty much destroyed this historic gulf coast fishing town...

We finally got to Pascagoula, MS around dark on the 9th to stop and get a room and check things out... I think it was a holiday inn but whatever the hotel was it had some GREAT food... One big mistake we made was staying up all night watching Dennis... At the time it was a 145mph Category-4 Monster so it was hard to sleep anyways, but I've learned that you need SOME sleep when you chase... Even 3 or 4 hours can be huge... By dawn we started to realize that Dennis was shifting a little right so we decided to head back towards Mobile, AL... I actually called Doug Gillham for some help, but just as I started talking to him his wife went into labor so he had to go to the hospital ASAP... Funny enough his first daughter Riley was born at almost the same time Hurricane Dennis made landfall in Pensacola, FL...

Justyn Jackson actually helped us out and we found an AWESOME parking garage about a 1/2 mile from the water in the heart of Pensacola, FL... In Hurricane Ivan the surge got about 12 feet high in this garage so I knew we were going to be safe since Hurricane Dennis wasn't going to be the same surge producer as Hurricane Ivan... I also knew we were in the right spot when I saw Warren Faidley across the street from us! Dennis made landfall around 3pm CT as the western side of the eye went right over us... As you know typically the strongest winds are found in the NE quadrant of the eyewall but this particular hurricane was unique in the fact that the winds were as strong if not stronger in the NW quadrant of the eyewall... The convection really looked better on radar in the NW quadrant of the eyewall as it went over us... The winds were basically calm there for about 30 minutes or so...

This of course was not even close to the worst hurricane I have been in but honestly it was one of the most hardcore I've gone when it comes to chasing! By the end of Dennis I was probably the most tired I've ever been in my life to that point!!! I would have just stayed in the parking lot and slept if it wasn't for the curfew in place... We had to get back to Mobile, Al by dark so John and I somehow kept each other awake by talking and an occasional punch to the shoulder... We got back to Mobile, AL around 9 pm or so and I immediately collapsed on the coach... The next thing I knew it was around 1pm the next day... I slept for almost 16 hours straight!!! I've never done that before and the scary part was I swear it just felt like I just closed my eyes for about 2 seconds... It was a weird feeling and I've NEVER fallen asleep so fast in my life!!! If there is ever another major hurricane heading towards Pensacola, FL I know exactly where to go... That place was a FORT!!! Enjoy the video, and hey, NO CUSS WORDS!!! :-)

Hurricane Dennis Stormpulse

© Greg Nordstrom 2005

ANY USE OF THIS VIDEO WITHOUT PERMISSION FROM GREG NORDSTROM IS PROHIBITED AND WILL BE PROSECUTED TO THE FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAW...