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Irma is among the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record based on wind speed.

The major hurricane could notch more historic moments in the days ahead.

Hurricane Irma is one of the most powerful hurricanes to roam the Atlantic basin in more than a decade, and it could hit more historical benchmarks in the days ahead.

Here’s a rundown of Irma’s notable extremes so far.

Strongest Winds in Almost 12 Years

Irma’s maximum sustained winds have so far maxed out at 185 mph. Those winds are well above the 157 mph Category 5 threshold and are the highest registered in any Atlantic hurricane since 2005.

Hurricane Wilma on Oct. 19, 2005, was the last hurricane to have maximum sustained winds reach 185 mph.

One of Four Hurricanes With 185+ MPH Winds

The 185 mph winds also place Irma in the upper echelon of Atlantic hurricanes based on wind speed.

Only three other hurricanes have had winds of 185 winds or greater, including Wilma (2005), Gilbert (1988) and Allen (1980), according to Dr. Phil Klotzbach, a tropical scientist at Colorado State University.

Allen had the strongest winds of those four hurricanes, maxing out at 190 mph in early August 1980.

Longest Duration of 185 Winds Anywhere in the World

Irma’s winds were at 185 mph for 33 hours as of late Wednesday evening. That’s the longest a tropical cyclone has maintained winds at that level or stronger anywhere in the world, according to Klotzbach.

The previous record was Super Typhoon Haiyan (2013) in the northwest Pacific which held winds of that intensity for 24 hours.

Most Powerful Hurricane to Strike the Leeward Islands

Irma’s maximum winds were 185 mph as it raked through the Leeward Islands, including Barbuda, Anguilla and Saint Martin.

Klotzbach says that Irma’s winds are the strongest for any hurricane on record to wallop the Leeward Islands region, beating out the Okeechobee Hurricane (1928) and David (1979). Both of those hurricanes had 160 mph winds at their peak in the Leeward Islands.

Lowest Central Pressure in a Decade

The central pressure observed in Irma dropped to 914 millibars early Wednesday morning, the lowest pressure for any Atlantic hurricane since Dean in August 2007, according to Klotzbach.

Irma’s pressure, however, does not rank among the top 10 lowest in the historical record for the Atlantic.

In general, a lower pressure means a more intense hurricane in terms of its winds and overall destructive potential. Conversely, a higher pressure indicates a weaker system when it comes to wind speeds.

Irma Ranks Among Longest-Lived Category 5 Hurricanes

Hurricane Irma has been a Category 5 for more than 48 hours as of Thursday early morning.

Hurricane Allen (1980) and Hurricane Ivan (2004) hold the record for the longest duration as a Category 5 in the Atlantic at three days total.

Irma now ranks third overall since the reconnaissance era began in 1944 with Category 5 strength lasting two days, according to data from NOAA’s Hurricane Research Division.


Atlantic Category 5 Hurricanes 1924-2015 (Red Indicates Category 5 Intensity)

2017 Could Be the First Year With Two U.S. Category 4 Landfalls

Irma has a chance to be the second Category 4 hurricane landfall in the U.S. this season.

The first Category 4 landfall was Hurricane Harvey which roared ashore near Rockport, Texas, with 130 mph winds on Aug. 25.

In historical records dating to 1851, the U.S. has never been struck by two Category 4 or stronger hurricanes in the same year, according to Bob Henson, a meteorologist with wunderground.com.


History of Hurricane Harvey.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.

Published on Apr 6, 2017 MEDITERRANEAN SEA (April 7, 2017) The guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) conducts strike operations while in the Mediterranean Sea. Porter, forward-deployed to Rota, Spain, is conducting naval operations in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations in support of U.S. national security interests in Europe. (U.S. Navy video by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Ford Williams/Released)

There was a gun fire battle @ Crescent and 12 in Midtown ATL last night around 11:30pm

WSB TV Channel 2

ATLANTA – Police say 18 vehicles were damaged by bullets in what they described as a gun battle in midtown Atlanta.

The shooting started around 11:30 p.m. Thursday at the corner of Crescent Avenue and 12th Street, an area with popular bars and restaurants.

Atlanta police Capt. Cliff Johnson said it appears there was a gun battle involving multiple shooters.

Police found 60 rounds from four different guns, and an AK-47 rifle was found in some bushes near a parking lot.

by Chris Isidore @CNNMoney

The broken gasoline pipeline that’s caused shortages and price spikes in the Southeast is just days away from resuming normal operations.

The company, Colonial Pipeline, said Tuesday it’s completed a 500-foot bypass to carry gasoline around the broken portion of the pipeline. It’s currently conducting tests to make sure that the repair will work.

If it does, Colonial expects to start sending gasoline through the pipeline by Wednesday. It will then take several days for the fuel delivery supply chain to return to normal. The company said it has 700 employees and contractors working on the site.

Prices in those states – Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia — have spiked by as much as 20 cents since the weekend. Those states have have declared emergencies and relaxed restrictions on fuel transportation due to shortage.

The leak occurred on Sept. 9 in a rural area south of Birmingham, Alabama, on a portion of the pipeline that’s 53 years old. Most of the pipeline was built in either the 1960s or 1970s, according to federal records.

Prince
(CNN)As stunned fans mourned legendary singer Prince, questions remained on what killed him days after he performed in Atlanta to rave reviews.

Authorities are investigating the circumstances surrounding his death. An autopsy will be conducted Friday, starting at 9 a.m. CT (10 a.m. ET).
Prince Rogers Nelson, 57, died Thursday after he was found unresponsive in an elevator at his studios in Chanhassen, Minnesota.
Paramedics tried to perform CPR but were unable to revive him, authorities said. He was pronounced dead at 10:07 a.m., less than 30 minutes after sheriff’s deputies responded to a medical call at the scene.

A Falcon 9 rocket booster — under the power of a single Merlin 1D engine — descends toward a specially-outfitted ocean landing platform off Florida’s East Coast on Tuesday in a brief video clip released by SpaceX.

The rocket tipped over moments after touching down on the barge, which was parked in the Atlantic Ocean 200 miles east of Jacksonville, Florida. SpaceX says the first stage did not survive the landing.

SpaceX is experimenting with recovering Falcon 9 rocket stages in hopes of reusing the boosters on future missions, an achievement officials say would reduce the cost of space launches.

The Falcon 9 rocket’s upper stage continued into orbit with an unmanned Dragon supply ship hauling up cargo for the crew on the International Space Station.

via Video: SpaceX rocket booster crash lands on barge | Spaceflight Now.

From my take, they allow 36 oz on premise “tastings” as usual.  Now they can also give a “gift” of a growler (64oz) for off-premise consumption.  Sounds like you have to take a tour first and then also have only one beer type as a single growler, not multiple smaller growlers or possibly bottled beer.

passes the Georgia Senate 51-5!

passes!!!!! A win for and the Georgia People! Now on to the house!

passes Senate 51-5.

Thanks everyone for your support on . Passed Senate Floor 51-5. Amended, but I’ll take it. Now it’s time to hit up the House.

Senate Bill #63 passed overwhelmingly. Now onto the House.

At the request of the bill’s sponsor we need to STOP contacting Casey Cagle. Word is that all the calls and emails have worked and there is a good chance of him coming to the table on this but, for the next couple days, we need to take it easy on social media and let the negotiation process happen.

Again, this is coming down from bill’s sponsor (he didn’t message me directly but word was sent to me by someone that spoke to him) so it sounds like the best advice to follow for now. I’m sure everyone is skeptical based on how this has gone, but please try to follow this for a few days so we can see what happens and I will update immediately if I receive any new info.

via IMPORTANT update on the status of SB63! PLEASE READ! : atlbeer.

Leonard Nimoy, the sonorous, gaunt-faced actor who won a worshipful global following as Mr. Spock, the resolutely logical human-alien first officer of the Starship Enterprise in the television and movie juggernaut “Star Trek,” died on Friday morning at his home in the Bel Air section of Los Angeles. He was 83.
Leonard Nimoy, Spock of ‘Star Trek,’ Dies at 83 – NYTimes.com.

Via- USA Today

WASHINGTON — Hours after an announcement that U.S. authorities determined North Korea was behind the recent cyber-attack on Sony Pictures, the entertainment company announced it was pulling the film The Interview.

The comedy about journalists who score an interview with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un was scheduled for a Dec. 25 release.

"Sony Pictures has no further release plans for the film," according to a statement from the company.

Sony also removed any mention of the movie from its website by Wednesday afternoon.

Earlier Wednesday, a federal law enforcement official offered the news about North Korea.

The official, who is not authorized to comment publicly, said a formal announcement of attribution by the U.S. government could come as soon as Thursday.

U.S. investigators believe the attacks originated outside North Korea, but they have determined that the actions were sanctioned by North Korean leaders, a second U.S. official said Wednesday.

The U.S. government is not prepared to issue formal charges against North Korea or its leadership, but the official, who is not authorized to comment publicly, said a lesser statement of attribution is expected..

U.S. investigators had moved quickly toward a determination in recent days, indicating this week that attribution was imminent.

Addressing the matter last week, FBI Director James Comey said the attack was very "complicated” and the government wanted to be sure "before we make an attribution that we have high confidence in it.”

Sony was hit by hackers Nov. 24. A glowing red skeleton appeared on screens throughout the Culver City, Calif.-based Sony subsidiary.

The hack apparently was in response to the planned release of The Interview, which featured James Franco and Seth Rogen as tabloid TV journalists. As they prepare to travel to the secretive North Korea, they’re recruited by the CIA to assassinate Kim.

Tuesday, the hackers, who call themselves the Guardians of Peace, posted a message threatening a 9/11 type attack on theaters that showed the movie.

While making the film, Sony representatives met with Assistant Secretary Daniel Russell of the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs and other State Department officials to discuss U.S. policy in Asia, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. She did not detail their conversations.

Psaki would not confirm reports that Robert King, the U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights, relayed messages to Sony about the movie. King "did not view the movie and did not have any contact directly with Sony," she said.

Psaki said the department had no "credible information to support these threats" against theaters showing the film.

The hacking has had other, massive repercussions for the media giant. Almost 38 million files were stolen and doled out on file-sharing websites.

Files included the screening versions of five Sony films, the script to the most recent James Bond movie, embarrassing e-mails between studio executives, salary data and personal information about Sony staff.

During the three weeks since the attack, an ongoing question has been "Why?"

Historically, hackers have either stolen intellectual property as part of an industrial espionage campaign or grabbed personal data to sell.

An attack that merely posted material, much of which could have been sold for large amounts of money on the black market, is unprecedented.

After entering and copying much of the Sony network, the hackers released malicious software, or malware, that infected Sony’s computers and was extremely destructive.

"Its job was not just to erase files but to destroy them," said Tom Kellermann, a computer security expert with Trend Micro.

This sort of behavior hadn’t been seen much since the 1990s, when "script kiddies" copied computer programs they didn’t actually understand and used them merely to wreak havoc.

"Back then, we saw this a lot, people jumping in, messing up a network and jumping out, but there was no financial gain. It was just ‘Ha ha, look what I did!’ " Kellermann said.

North Korea has been suspected of employing hacking attacks against groups it disagreed with, including South Korean media outlets and banks.

via Official: North Korea behind Sony hack.

A Delta IV Heavy rocket roars to life at Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The launch vehicle is carrying NASA's Orion spacecraft on an unpiloted flight test to Earth orbit. Liftoff was at 7:05 a.m. EST. Image Credit: NASA/Sandra Joseph and Kevin O'Connell

A Delta IV Heavy rocket roars to life at Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The launch vehicle is carrying NASA’s Orion spacecraft on an unpiloted flight test to Earth orbit. Liftoff was at 7:05 a.m. EST.
Image Credit: NASA/Sandra Joseph and Kevin O’Connell

A spacecraft built for humans left the domain of low-Earth orbit Friday for the first time in 42 years when NASA’s first Orion soared 3,604 miles above Earth and returned safely hours later, having accomplished a flawless flight test as part of NASA’s journey to Mars.

"We as a species are meant to press humanity further into the solar system and this is a first step," said Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA’s associate administrator for the Human Exploration and Operations Directorate. "What a tremendous team effort."

via Orion Performance Showcases Exploration Abilities | NASA.