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Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Hurricane Andrew/archive2

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The following is an archived discussion of a featured article nomination. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the article's talk page or in Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates. No further edits should be made to this page.

The article was not promoted by GrahamColm 10:06, 10 August 2012 [1].

Hurricane Andrew edit

Hurricane Andrew (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)

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Nominator(s): 12george1 (talk) 02:07, 21 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Upcoming in August 2012, it will have been 20 years since one of the worst tropical cyclones on record in U.S. history. As the 20th anniversary of this storm was rapidly approaching, I went on a quest to improve it to reach FA, with the hopes of it being a TFA on August 24, 2012. After spending countless hours, days, and month on the sandbox for the article, it was moved to the mainspace in place of the original Andrew article. Today, after more than 9 years after its creation [2], I think it is finally ready to become a Feature Article, because, in my biased opinion, appears to among the best quality on Wikipedia. Agree? Disagree? Please comment in the space below. Finally, this is a nomination for 100 points in the WikiCup.--12george1 (talk) 02:07, 21 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

  • Note: This is a WikiCup nomination. The following nominators are WikiCup participants: 12george1. To the nominator: if you do not intend to submit this article at the WikiCup, feel free to remove this notice. UcuchaBot (talk) 00:01, 22 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Source review - spotchecks not done. Nikkimaria (talk) 18:59, 22 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

  • Use a consistent date format
  • Be consistent in when you provided publisher locations, and how these are notated
  • Use consistent italicization and wikilinking
  • What makes this a high-quality reliable source? Nikkimaria (talk) 18:59, 22 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • I have a bunch of Comments, but in all it was a good read for a difficult storm. YE Pacific Hurricane 03:27, 30 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • "Hurricane Andrew was a destructive tropical cyclone during the 1992 Atlantic hurricane season that was, at the time, the costliest hurricane in United States history" sounds a little to long I'd cut the first part out. YE Pacific Hurricane 03:27, 30 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • "in United States history" no need to link major geographic places, which the US is. YE Pacific Hurricane 03:27, 30 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • "diminished convection associated with the storm" is it me or does it sound a tad weird. YE Pacific Hurricane 03:27, 30 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • "On the following day, a Hurricane Hunters flight failed to locate a well-defined center, though Andrew remained a tropical cyclone." not really needed, after all, it is only the lead, it should only mention the important information. YE Pacific Hurricane 03:27, 30 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • " before making landfall on Elliott Key, and later in Homestead, Florida." no need for "Florida" after all the location is described in the wikilink. YE PacificHurricane 03:27, 30 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • "Shortly before landfall near Morgan City, Louisiana, Andrew quickly weakened to a minimal Category 3 hurricane" see above. YE Pacific Hurricane 03:27, 30 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • "Throughout the southern portions of Florida, Andrew brought very high winds; a wind gust of 177 mph (282 km/h) was reported at a house in Perrine, Florida." see above. YE Pacific Hurricane 03:27, 30 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
    • I removed "Florida" at the end, but only because the name of the state was mentioned earlier in the sentence.--12george1 (talk) 15:58, 30 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • "and was replaced with Alex for the 1998 season." I'm sorry but I don't think think this is notable enough for the lead as it is borderline trivial IMO. YE Pacific Hurricane 03:27, 30 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • "A tropical wave moved off the coast of Africa on August 14" no need to wililink Africa
  • "Based on a Dvorak T-number of 2.0, it is estimated Tropical Depression Three developed late on August 16, while about 1,630 miles (2,620 km) east-southeast of Barbados.[1]" not back up by source, the NHC report mentions "both the TSAF unit and SAB calculated a Dvorak T-number of 2.0 and the "best track" (Table 1 and Fig. 1 [85K GIF]) shows that the transition from tropical wave to tropical depression took place at that time." it does not say the number of the depression, so I am afraid the number "Three" has to be removed. YE Pacific Hurricane 03:27, 30 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • "Initially, moderate wind shear prevented strengthening, though a decrease in shear allowed the depression to intensify into Tropical Storm Andrew at around 1200 UTC on August 17.[1]" no need for "around" IMO per Tony's FAC guide. YE Pacific Hurricane 03:27, 30 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • "By early on August 18, the storm maintained concentrated convection near the center with spiral bands to its west as the winds increased to 50 mph (80 km/h).[3] " wikilink rainband to spiral bands. YE Pacific Hurricane 03:27, 30 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • "Shortly thereafter the thunderstorms decreased markedly during the diurnal minimum [4]" wtf is diurnal minimum. Yes, I, YE knows what it is, but the average Jose Smoh does not :(. YE Pacific Hurricane 03:27, 30 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • "increased southwesterly wind shear from an upper-level low prevented Andrew from maintaining deep convection.[1]" wikilink upp-erlevel low please. YE Pacific Hurricane 03:27, 30 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • "On August 19, a Hurricane Hunters flight into the storm failed to locate a well-defined center[5] and on the following day, a flight found that the cyclone had degenerated to the extent that only a diffuse low-level circulation center remained; observations indicated the pressure rose to an unusually high 1,015 mbar (30.0 inHg)." long sentence, i'd suggested breaking it up. Also, since you don't wiklink [[wind shear] again in the MH, I'd delink Hurricane Hunters. YE Pacific Hurricane 03:27, 30 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
    • Yes I delinked "wind shear", but I would not have to delink "Hurricane Hunters" if I removed that statement from the lead that you requested I do earlier.--12george1 (talk) 15:58, 30 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • "and on the following day, a flight found that the cyclone had degenerated to the extent that only a diffuse low-level circulation center remained" If I were you, I'd wikilink to atmospheric circulation. YE Pacific Hurricane 03:27, 30 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
    • I wikilinked it earlier one the same sentence that you wanted me to wikilink "rainbands".--12george1 (talk) 15:58, 30 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • "The hurricane accelerated as it tracked due westward into an area of very favorable conditions, and began to rapidly intensifying by late on August 22; in a 24 hour period the atmospheric pressure dropped by 47 mbar (47 hPa; 1.4 inHg) to a minimum of 922 mbar (922 hPa; 27.2 inHg).[1] does it meet any of the rapid deepening criteria? YE Pacific Hurricane 03:27, 30 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
    • From the rapid deepening article: "The National Weather Service describes rapid deepening as a decrease of 42 millibars in less than 24 hours." So yes, that is considered rapid deepening.--12george1 (talk) 15:58, 30 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • "At 2100 UTC on August 23, Andrew made landfall on Eleuthera with winds of 160 mph (260 km/h).[8] " what was the storms intensity at landfall in real time? YE Pacific Hurricane 03:27, 30 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • "At 0840 UTC on August 24, Andrew struck Elliott Key with winds of 165 miles per hour (266 km/h) and a pressure of 926 mbar (27.3 inHg)." abbr units as you do in the rest of the article. YE Pacific Hurricane 03:27, 30 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • "As the high pressure system to its north weakened, a strong mid-latitude trough approached the area from the northwest. This caused the hurricane to decelerate to the northwest, and winds decreased as Andrew approached the Gulf Coast of the United States.[1] " wikilink to extratropical cyclone please. YE Pacific Hurricane 03:27, 30 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • "Hurricane Andrew weakened rapidly as it turned to the north and northeast, and within ten hours weakened to a tropical storm." wow, a lot of "and"'s, I suggest you re-word this sentence slightly. YE Pacific Hurricane 03:27, 30 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
    • It is only two "and"'s (, but I reworded that sentence anyway.--12george1 (talk) 15:58, 30 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • "Initially, forecasters predicted tides up to 14 feet (4.3 m) above normal along the East Coast of Florida, near the potential location of landfall.[16] However, the National Hurricane Center later noted that storm surge up to 10 feet (3.0 m) would occur along the East Coast of Florida, as high as 13 feet (4.0 m) in Biscayne Bay, and a height of 11 feet (3.4 m) of the West Coast of Florida. Rainfall was predicted to be between 5 and 8 inches (130 and 200 mm) along the path of the storm. In addition, the National Hurricane Center noted the likelihood of isolated tornadoes in Central and South Florida during the passage of Andrew on August 23 and August 24.[17]" I'd cut back on this borderline encyclopedic info if I were you. Also, per consistency, abbreviate the units. YE Pacific Hurricane 03:27, 30 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • "Evacuations were ordered in nine counties, including Broward, Charlotte, Collier, Lee, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Palm Beach, Sarasota counties. In addition, officials in Lee County recommended an evacuation for the county on August 23, which was about 20 hours before tropical storm force winds were reported there.[18]" no need for "which was" IMO. YE Pacific Hurricane 03:27, 30 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • "As Andrew was approaching, an estimated 20,000-30,000 tourists were in the Florida Keys (Monroe County).[20] Ultimately, the sheer number of evacuees led to likely the largest traffic jam in the history of Florida, mostly along Interstate 95.[19]" why is it likely and not certain :| YE Pacific Hurricane 03:27, 30 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
    • Because the newspaper article says "perhaps", making it likely but not 100% certain.[4]--12george1 (talk) 15:58, 30 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • "While the hurricane was approaching the gulf coast of the United States, the National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane watch from Mobile, Alabama to Vermilion Bay, Louisiana, about 43 hours before landfall." why is gulf coast not capitalized. YE Pacific Hurricane 03:27, 30 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • "The highest sustained wind speed in relation to the storm was 146 mph (235 km/h), recorded at the Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station, before instruments failed there, too." I'm sorry, but "too" sounds a little informal IMO. YE Pacific Hurricane 03:27, 30 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
    • Switched to "instruments also failed there"--12george1 (talk) 15:58, 30 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • " On the west coast of Florida, sustained winds were no more than 39 mph (63 km/h), measured on Marco Island," "no more" sounds a bit weird too me IMO. YE Pacific Hurricane 03:27, 30 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • "Overall, precipitation from Andrew peaked at nearly 14 inches (360 mm) in western Miami-Dade County. Heavy rainfall in other areas was sporadic, though precipitation was reported as far north as Central Florida.[13]" see the second part of comment #22 please.
    • I cannot tell which comment is #22 because when I went to reply to your queries, it messed up the numbering system.--12george1 (talk) 15:58, 30 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
      • "Initially, forecasters predicted tides up to 14 feet (4.3 m) above normal along the East Coast of Florida, near the potential location of landfall.[16] However, the National Hurricane Center later noted that storm surge up to 10 feet (3.0 m) would occur along the East Coast of Florida, as high as 13 feet (4.0 m) in Biscayne Bay, and a height of 11 feet (3.4 m) of the West Coast of Florida. Rainfall was predicted to be between 5 and 8 inches (130 and 200 mm) along the path of the storm. In addition, the National Hurricane Center noted the likelihood of isolated tornadoes in Central and South Florida during the passage of Andrew on August 23 and August 24.[17]" I'd cut back on this borderline encyclopedic info if I were you. Also, per consistency, abbreviate the units. YE Pacific Hurricane 03:27, 30 June 2012 (UTC) (this comment is number #22, I removed the number system since they were not being formatted right but feel free to revert).
  • "Storm surge from Andrew caused more than $500 million (1992 USD) in losses to numerous boats and a hotel, which had its lobby flooded with 2 to 3 feet (0.61 to 0.91 m) of water." see above
  • "Following the storm, more than 1.4 million lost electricity and another 150,000 were without telephone service.[29]" 1.4 million what? pokemon? humans? YE Pacific Hurricane 03:27, 30 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • "In addition to houses, the storm damaged or destroyed 82,000 businesses, 32,900 acres of farmland, 31 public schools, 59 health facilities/hospitals, 9,500 traffic signals, 3,300 miles (5,300 km) of power lines, and 3,000 watermains.[29] " I'd change "house" to "home damage", but I am not sure if that makes the prose a whole lot better. YE Pacific Hurricane 03:27, 30 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • " At the Homestead Air Reserve Base, most of the 2,000 building on the base became "severely damaged or unusable".[31]" "building" to "buildings". YE Pacific Hurricane 03:27, 30 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • "Some officials in Florida considered Andrew the worst storm in the state since the Labor Day hurricane in 1935.[34] " No expert on grammar, but I'd capitalize the "h". YE Pacific Hurricane 03:27, 30 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • "Outside of Miami-Dade, effects were relatively minimal, except in Broward, Monroe, and Collier counties. In Broward County, property damage reached about $100 million (1992 USD) and three fatalities were reported.[1] " Miamie-Dade what? county? country? state? city? YE Pacific Hurricane 03:27, 30 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • "Other than at Everglades National Park, effects in Monroe County were significant, especially in the Upper Florida Keys. Strong winds damaged billboards, awnings, commercial signs, several boats, planes, trees,[37]" the first part sounds a little weird, but I can't find a better way to word it myself. sadly. YE Pacific Hurricane 03:27, 30 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • "In Collier County slight damage to houses occurred, with property losses reaching $30 million (1992 USD)." comma before slight please. YE Pacific Hurricane 03:27, 30 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • "There, the hurricane-force winds damaged roofs, although most homes fared well during the storm; however, the main exception was large trees falling onto houses." sentence seems a tad long. YE Pacific Hurricane 03:27, 30 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • "Houses in the Morgan City, Patterson, and Berwick areas suffered minor damage, mainly limited to shingles being torn off; some large trees fell, causing severe damage to mobile homes. Similar damage was experienced in regions of Franklin, Charenton, and Jeanerette, where mobile homes were toppled and debris from homes were scattered." I'd change "regions" to "counties" as "regions" tends to refer to larger area such as the boughs of Alaska. YE Pacific Hurricane 03:27, 30 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • "At Port Fourchon, power lines were knocked down and a restaurant was unroofed" how can a restaurant be unroofed? YE Pacific Hurricane
  • Is it me or can some paragraphs in the "Remainder of the United States" section can be combined? YE Pacific Hurricane 03:27, 30 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • "In Washington D.C., President Bush proposed a $7.1 billion (1992 USD) disaster aid package to provide disaster benefits, small-business loans, crop losses, food stamps, and public housing for victims of Hurricane Andrew. However, the United States House of Representatives considered allotting a bill costing $1.8 billion (1992 USD) more than Bush's proposal.[52]" did the bill pass? YE Pacific Hurricane 03:27, 30 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • Why is there a section just with one sentence mentioning retirement :|. YE Pacific Hurricane 03:27, 30 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • The aftermath is a bit skimpy.
    • " In Washington D.C., President Bush proposed a $7.1 billion (1992 USD) disaster aid package to provide disaster benefits, small-business loans, crop losses, food stamps, and public housing for victims of Hurricane Andrew. However, the United States House of Representatives considered allotting a bill costing $1.8 billion (1992 USD) more than Bush's proposal."
  • Those are both just proposals, but it doesn't say whether either of them happened or not. That is my biggest beef with the article, but shouldn't be too difficult to fix. --♫ Hurricanehink (talk) 14:07, 1 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
    • I don't understand what you are asking me to do.--12george1 (talk) 19:51, 1 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
      • I didn't ask, it was more of a comment, how the aftermath's extent of federal government actions is two bill proposals. Could you find some more concrete stuff of what happened? I'm mostly just leery about the words "proposed" and "considered", since nothing, at least based on how it reads, actually happened from those bills. --♫ Hurricanehink (talk) 19:59, 1 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • Comment. Why hasn't this article completed a GA nomination and review first? If it had, it would have eliminated a number of the issues brought up above. Thegreatdr (talk) 14:12, 3 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
    • It was on GAN, but the nominator wanted to get this to FA by Andrew's 20th anniversary. --♫ Hurricanehink (talk) 14:46, 3 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
      • Agreed with DR, it's good stuff but could benefit from peer review. Auree ★★ 01:11, 5 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
        • Other than YE and Hink's query about the recovery bill, what else do I need to do?--12george1 (talk) 19:04, 5 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • Comment. Suggest a prose check so that the prose is the best possible, since this is a FA candidate. e.g. The word "however" is used three times in the first paragraph, twice in adjacent sentences. It's used 10 times in the entire article. Seems like all, or almost all "however"s could be removed. MathewTownsend (talk) 12:43, 11 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose – People are going to eat me for this, but since day 1 of this FAC, I've thought its being rushed for something that may not even happen. (25 has more chances than 20 anyway in my book.) I feel like this FAC should be withdrawn and brought though the project and for that matter GAN. B->FAC is rare nowadays and unlikely. If I did that, I'd be eaten alive. Mitch32(There is a destiny that makes us... family.) 19:28, 19 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
    Um, how is that actionable? There is nothing on WP:WIAFA that requires that articles should have GANs filled out before FACs. While GAN provides a useful extra pair of eyes on the page, it would be a pointless process for articles that are ready for FAC when they are published (or in this case, when an FAC is trying to get an anniversary TFA). Titoxd(?!? - cool stuff) 16:37, 20 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
    Actionable in the theory that this FAC should be withdrawn. I don't like the idea that we should just have gone from B to FAC on the late 20th century's most notable hurricane, just for an award that might not even happen.Mitch32(There is a destiny that makes us... family.) 17:52, 20 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
    But you have not identified anything that is actually wrong with the article, which is what an oppose requires to be actionable. Withdrawing the FAC simply to ensure it has a GAN before it goes to FAC is a pointless bureaucratic exercise. There is no requirement that articles go through GAN, PR, A-Class Review, or any other WikiProject verification process before going to FAC. Titoxd(?!? - cool stuff) 18:42, 20 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
    Citation 62 has Center written in British form, and overall, a lot of the citation formatting for the NHC seems inconsistent. I know some probably are using cite report, but I am getting confused reading some of this formatting. Mitch32(There is a destiny that makes us... family.) 22:17, 20 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • I, too, feel this has been rushed. The article is built as if it covered a typical land-impacting storm, and feels exceptionally dry for one of the top-two most severe US hurricanes in recent history. The article is based on two types of sources: government documents and a handful of newspaper articles. The lack of rich detail and qualitative accounts from the many books, hundreds of journal articles, and even contemporary accounts is glaring; the Martian who's just stumbled on the article has no idea that the hurricane was of historical proportions, its name still being discussed in households around the country. The aftermath section, for example, is almost entirely political, relying on quotes to get the point across. That shouldn't be the case. I know the 20th anniversary is right around the corner, and like everyone here, I would have loved for the article to be on the main page on August 24. As it stands, though, I don't feel represents WPTC's best work. The foundation is there for sure—the numbers and meteorological stats are all there. They just need to be applied to the real world, how it was impacted and how it reacted. Juliancolton (talk) 20:53, 21 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
    • If people feel strongly about getting it on the Main Page for the anniversary, and George doesn't mind taking on some co-noms who are good at research (and I see several on this page), I'll be happy to help. (I don't mean that I want to co-nom, I just see some likely candidates here.) - Dank (push to talk) 22:40, 23 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
    • Had there been others to help me with this, it wouldn't be so "rushed". The least you guys could have done was give it a GAN in a reasonable amount of time. I decided to step up to the plate and fix this article, yet none other than Hurricanehink even lifted a finger. For the sources, since this is a high-impact storm, there will be claims such as that thousands of people died and none of the newspaper or government documents contain crap like that. The way you typed that and how you go on and on makes it seem like it is worse than this: [5]. As for the amount of impact, in The Bahamas and Florida, they are summaries of their respective Effects articles. For Louisiana, I started working on another sub article for that state. However, I got too bored when I realized once again, none would help me, and secondly, I had to focus on other articles to survive the WikiCup. You say it doesn't represent the WPTC's best work? But apparently this article and that one do. "Where in the hell is the cavalry on this one?"--12george1 (talk) 23:03, 23 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
      • I did give you a 19 KB review, but otherwise, I did not help nor offered to help, as I tend to work on EPAC seasons/storms. However, I would not mind fixing a few things here and there, but that might be weird given that I gave the longest review. No offense anyone, but I suggest to all WPTC is to focus on at least moderately high important articles (for me, it's active era EPAC stuff, though ill admit some of the articles are do are not very important) instead of sitting around and doing nothing/working on less important topics. I am somewhat dissipated in lack of assistance for this article, this is not a typical landfalling hurricane. Does anyone here notice the topic on the IRC channel "FAC: Andrew - be nice and please help out (link is)" Still, I think this article is very good, though I recently noticed a few ref errors that I did not catch above. YE Pacific Hurricane 23:39, 23 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • How about instead of complaining about it being rushed...review the article and place your specific comments here so that George can improve the article and it can pass as a featured article? I mean, that's the least all of us could do considering he's the only one that got off his lazy butt to work on anything. That's the reasonable action here. TropicalAnalystwx13 (talk) 01:04, 29 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by GabeMc:

Lead
  • Wind shear is mentioned four times in the first paragraph. Is this level of detail appropriate for the lead? I would reccomend trimming the play-by-play in favour of a more readable summary.
  • "The hurricane emerged into the Gulf of Mexico as a Category 4 hurricane", "a minimal Category 3 hurricane" Do we need to keep repeating "hurricane" when mentioning the category?
  • UTC is used in the lead but not linked or described.
  • Clarify: When mentioning Andrew in the Bahamas it is referred to as a cyclone, which being in the sub-tropics is accurate, but perhaps confusing to the reader as the distinction between hurricane and cyclone has not yet been established.
  • Clarify: "In the Bahamas, Andrew brought high tides, hurricane force winds, and tornadoes, which caused considerable damage in the archipelago, especially on Cat Cays. At least 800 houses were destroyed ..." Where were the houses that were destroyed? Try: "In the Bahamas, Andrew brought high tides, hurricane force winds, and tornadoes, which caused considerable damage in the archipelago, where at least 800 houses were destroyed" Or similar.

~ GabeMc (talk|contribs) 22:17, 5 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Spotchecks Spotchecks for Hurricane Andrew using numbering from revision [6] There are roughly 109 cited sentances and we choose 15 randomly

  • 1 In neighboring Alabama, the storm's rainfall peaked at 4.71 in (120 mm) in Aliceville.[1]
Source says: it's a table, but it matches :)
  • 2 President Bush also visited Louisiana and said, "[it] hasn't been as devastating [as in Florida]", but also noted that "The destruction from this storm goes beyond anything we have known in recent years". After his visit to Louisiana, President Bush declared only Terrebonne Parish as a disaster area,[2]
Source says: Page not found :(
  • 3 As the high pressure system to its north weakened, a strong mid-latitude trough approached the area from the northwest. This caused the hurricane to decelerate to the northwest, and winds decreased as Andrew approached the Gulf Coast of the United States.[3]
Source says: "the high pressure system to its northeast weakened and a strong mid-latitude trough approached the area from the northwest. Steering currents began to change. Andrew turned toward the northwest and its forward speed decreased to about 8 kt." - bits of these feel a bit close paraphrase - but I can see how you would say it all that differently...
  • 4 Outside of Miami-Dade County, effects were relatively minimal, except in Broward, Monroe, and Collier counties. In Broward County, property damage reached about $100 million (1992 USD) and three fatalities were reported.[3]
Source says: It's a table and it matches up.
  • 5 After the season had ended, the World Meteorological Organisation's RA IV Hurricane Committee retired the name Andrew from the Atlantic tropical cyclone naming lists and replaced it with Alex.[4][5]
Source says: " Alex has replaced Andrew in 1998" - 'Alex' not mentioned in second reference?
As you said the first source covers the fact Alex has replaced Andrew in 1998, while the second covers the fact that Andrew was retired. So whats the problem?.Jason Rees (talk) 20:39, 9 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • 6 A tropical wave moved off the coast of Africa on August 14. Under the influence of a ridge of high pressure to its north, the wave tracked quickly westward. An area of convection developed along the wave axis to the south of the Cape Verde islands, and on August 15, meteorologists began classifying the system with the Dvorak technique. The thunderstorm activity became more concentrated, and narrow spiral rainbands developed around a developing center of circulation. Based on a Dvorak T-number of 2.0, it is estimated Tropical Depression Three developed late on August 16, while about 1,630 miles (2,620 km) east-southeast of Barbados.[3]
Source says: "Satellite pictures and upper-air data indicate that Hurricane Andrew formed from a tropical wave that crossed from the west coast of Africa to the tropical North Atlantic Ocean on 14 August 1992. The wave moved westward at about 20 kt, steered by a swift and deep easterly current on the south side of an area of high pressure. The wave passed to the south of the Cape Verde Islands on the following day. At that point, meteorologists at the National Hurricane Center (NHC) Tropical Satellite Analysis and Forecast (TSAF) unit and the Synoptic Analysis Branch (SAB) of the National Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service (NESDIS) found the wave sufficiently well-organized to begin classifying the intensity of the system using the Dvorak (1984) analysis technique.

Convection subsequently became more focused in a region of cyclonic cloud rotation. Narrow spiral-shaped bands of clouds developed around the center of rotation on 16 August. At 1800 UTC on the 16th (UTC precedes EDT by four hours), both the TSAF unit and SAB calculated a Dvorak T-number of 2.0 and the "best track" (Table 1 and Fig. 1 [85K GIF]) shows that the transition from tropical wave to tropical depression took place at that time." - looks good to me...

Source matches.
  • 8 One person drowned from the surge in Eleuthera, and two others died in nearby The Bluff.[7]
Source says deaths where in Lower Bogue?
Source matches.
  • 10 Along Dauphin Island, high tides left severe beach erosion, with up to 30 ft (9.1 m) lost in some areas.[9]
Source matches.
  • 11 The storm first struck Eleuthera,[10]
I think this matches... but I confess I'm not entirely sure...
  • 12 Much of the damage in Florida was caused by high winds. Although effects from Andrew were catastrophic, the extent of damage was limited mainly from Kendall to Key Largo due to the small wind field of the storm.[3]
Source says: "Florida was extreme from the Kendall district southward through Homestead and Florida City, to near Key Largo" - can't find any mention of 'wind field' - am I missing something?
  • 13 By early on August 18, the storm maintained concentrated convection near the center with spiral bands to its west as the winds increased to 50 mph (80 km/h).[11]
Source says: " CONCENTRATED CONVECTION PERSISTS NEAR THE CIRCULATION CENTER AND SOME DEEP CONVECTION IS NOW OBSERVED ALONG A SPIRAL BAND TO THE WEST OF THE CENTER. THE INTENSITY IS SET AT 45 KT...", which I think matches....
  • 14 As Andrew was approaching, an estimated 20,000-30,000 tourists were in the Florida Keys (Monroe County).[12]
Source matches.
  • 15 Hurricane Andrew weakened rapidly as it turned to the north and northeast, falling to tropical storm intensity within ten hours. After entering Mississippi, the cyclone deteriorated to tropical depression status early on August 27. Accelerating northeastward, the depression began merging with the approaching frontal system, and by midday on August 28, Andrew ceased to meet the qualifications of a tropical cyclone while located over the southern Appalachian Mountains.[3]
I'm struggling to find mentions of 'ten hours' in the source - Mississippi is mentioned a few times, but I can see how it might support this... I'm likely missing something here though...


That's the end of the checks - you might want to comment on 2,3,5, 8, 12 15 - I'm sure most of this is just a bit of clarification required (this is also my first time spotchecking so any feedback would be cool  :) Fayedizard (talk) 14:58, 8 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]


The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this page.
  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference gulfrain was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Peter Applebome (1992-08-27). "Hurricane Andrew; Hurricane Rips Louisiana Coast Before Dying Out". New York Times. New York City, New York. Retrieved 2012-05-08.
  3. ^ a b c d e Edward Rappaport; National Hurricane Center (1993-12-10). Hurricane Andrew (Preliminary Report). United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service. Retrieved 2012-06-21.
  4. ^ John (Jack) Beven II; National Hurricane Center (1997-03-17). "Worldwide Tropical Cyclone Names 1996–2001". Miami, Florida: United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service. Archived from the original on 2012-06-22. Retrieved 2012-06-22.
  5. ^ National Hurricane Center (2012-04-13). "Tropical Cyclone Naming History and Retired Names". Miami, Florida: United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service. Archived from the original on 2012-06-22. Retrieved 2012-06-22.
  6. ^ "Andrew picks up speed as it races across gulf". Detroit Free Press. Hurricane Andrew, Hurricane Wallet Digital Archives. New Orleans, Louisiana. 1992-08-27. Retrieved 2012-05-08.
  7. ^ Arthur Rolle (1992-10-30). Hurricane Andrew in the Bahamas (Report). Nassau, Bahamas: National Hurricane Center. p. 4. Retrieved 2008-10-12.
  8. ^ Arthur Rolle (1992-10-30). Hurricane Andrew in the Bahamas (Report). Nassau, Bahamas: National Hurricane Center. p. 2. Retrieved 2008-10-11.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference al was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Edward Rappaport (2005-02-07). Hurricane Andrew Report Addendum (Report). Hurricane Andrew, Hurricane Wallet Digital Archives. Miami, Florida: National Hurricane Center. Retrieved 2012-05-08.
  11. ^ Edward Rappaport; National Hurricane Center (1992-08-18). Tropical Storm Andrew Discussion Five (Report). Hurricane Andrew, Hurricane Wallet Digital Archives. Miami, Florida: United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service. Retrieved 2012-06-21.
  12. ^ Dennis Henize; National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Key West Florida (1992-08-30). "Hurricane Andrew Post Storm Report". United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service. Retrieved 2012-05-08.
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