xkcd

by **stormoftara** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 6:13 am UTC

Ahhahaha Hurricane Freud.

Anyway, this is a great comic. Amazingly funny.

by **pyroman** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 6:13 am UTC

smartalco wrote:For the record, I got every one of those jokes.

good then you can explain the red vs blue one... i came up with a few ideas... politics, red vs blue, my friend thought it looked like a game of snake... but no of em seem to really work. Asides for that quite a good comic and works out very well for me as i live on long island so even the alt text is fine. = )

by **Rathum** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 6:14 am UTC

pyroman wrote:
smartalco wrote:For the record, I got every one of those jokes.

good then you can explain the red vs blue one... i came up with a few ideas... politics, red vs blue, my friend thought it looked like a game of snake... but no of em seem to really work. Asides for that quite a good comic and works out very well for me as i live on long island so even the alt text is fine. = )

It's the Tron light bikes.

by **pyroman** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 6:25 am UTC

oh alright thanks. I had never seen the movie = ( guess that means i lose a nerd point...

by **ADXCKGuy** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 6:30 am UTC

Randall has kinda been off his game lately, but as a New Englander, I did chuckle at this one.

by **cranberrytuna** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 6:35 am UTC

Wow, I hate it when people say it, but as a resident of south texas, my first thought was "get out of my head, randall". Hehehe. I especially liked the Florida and Illinois hurricanes.

by **RainbowPony** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 7:12 am UTC

ParanoidDrone wrote:Slightly OT: I love it when people unfamiliar with hurricanes grossly overreact to them. A conversation between my friend and a friend of said friend after a category 3:

Friend: Hey, it's me.
Friend of Friend: YOU'RE ALIVE?
F: Um, yeah?
FOF: BUT THERE WAS A HURRICANE!
F: It was just a category 3...
FOF: A CATEGORY 3?
F: Yes...
FOF: SO YOU'RE ALIVE?
F: Um, yes.

The FOF was from California iirc, but come on. You only need to really worry once it hits category 4. Anything lower is just a massive thunderstorm for all practical purposes. Goodness knows we need the rain as of now. <_<

Again, OT from the comic, I'm from California and I tend to get similar reactions when it comes to Earthquakes. A family member from the East Coast came over when there was heavy construction going on and freaked out when they felt a bit of rumbling.

Me: What are you doing?
Aunt: It's an earthquake!!
Me: Not even a 4 pointer, get up.

by **sje46** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 7:25 am UTC

@ californians/southerners poking fun at people inexperienced with earthquakes/hurricanes.

Well at least we Northerners don't freak out over a quarter inch of snow. And we don't say "y'all"

Spoiler:

by **Melannen** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 7:36 am UTC

sje46 wrote:@ californians/southerners poking fun at people inexperienced with earthquakes/hurricanes.

Well at least we Northerners don't freak out over a quarter inch of snow. And we don't say "y'all"

Spoiler:
Burn.

LMAO!!
Quarter inch? Geeze.. I can still find my golf ball in a quarter inch! Wait till there's at least a couple inches before giving up my game hahahaha

by **scalziand** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 7:47 am UTC

[censored] amazing comic.
re the alt text: I live in a new england town that got trashed by a hurricane in 1955. It could happen again.

by **charmuska** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 8:37 am UTC

You know how hurricanes are named after people?

I'd hate to be named "Where-the-Hell-is-Bermuda"... even the shortened "Wthib" or "Whib" sounds pretty lame.

by **GCM** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 9:10 am UTC

Awesome. Another reason to use Google Earth!

Also, the Freud one stumped me for a little while. #*@%( don't look like that, right? Not mine, anyway.

Also, why cos? Why not sine? Better yet, a tan would be sweet, though it would only ruin it here. Maybe an Upcoming Hurricanes 2?

by **ykcd** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 9:22 am UTC

I especially love the fact that "Hurricane Blue" and "Hurricane Red" exactly the same number of strokes have. *g*

by **almightyze** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 9:30 am UTC

Interesting points about the Long Island Express (alt-text):
-It literally changed the shape of several parts of Long Island. These changes remain today.
-Rhode Island was wrecked after the storm. Providence was Venice, from what I've been told.

Last significant hurricane to impact the region was I believe in the early 1990s...Bob, I believe. I remember going through that. Played with an old green watch.

Though, when I think about it more, it reminds me why Boston is one of those "lucky" cities: Because of the way hurricanes move in the North Atlantic, it would be practically impossible for Boston to feel the impact of even a Category 4 storm, because even in the most direct paths, the Cape, South Shore, or Providence would bear the brunt of a landing, before the storm loses strength. In order for there to be direct impact, a hurricane would have to defy tidal and weather patterns and come in from the direct east. Even ESE, a hurricane could lose strength by clipping P-town. Just another way Boston has few issues with the weather, damage-wise. (Not that I'm boasting. I would love to see a tornado wreck the Back Bay neighborhood :mrgreen:

)

by **sje46** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 9:41 am UTC

Well, Boston isn't completely impervious to destruction. WE got cold winters, a lot of snow, and I remember some pretty bad flooding a few years ago (maybe that was just the Merrimack valley . . .)

Melannen wrote:
sje46 wrote:@ californians/southerners poking fun at people inexperienced with earthquakes/hurricanes.

Well at least we Northerners don't freak out over a quarter inch of snow. And we don't say "y'all"

Spoiler:
Burn.

LMAO!!
Quarter inch? Geeze.. I can still find my golf ball in a quarter inch! Wait till there's at least a couple inches before giving up my game hahahaha

I've went to school on 5 inches.

by **almightyze** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 9:55 am UTC

sje46 wrote:Well, Boston isn't completely impervious to destruction. WE got cold winters, a lot of snow, and I remember some pretty bad flooding a few years ago (maybe that was just the Merrimack valley . . .)
Melannen wrote:
sje46 wrote:@ californians/southerners poking fun at people inexperienced with earthquakes/hurricanes.

Well at least we Northerners don't freak out over a quarter inch of snow. And we don't say "y'all"

Spoiler:
Burn.

LMAO!!
Quarter inch? Geeze.. I can still find my golf ball in a quarter inch! Wait till there's at least a couple inches before giving up my game hahahaha

I've went to school on 5 inches.

Blizzards aren't really destructive, they're more disruptive. They may disrupt power and gas lines, but they rarely destroy buildings (cave-ins are mostly the result of unsound construction practices and design), as hurricanes, floods, and tornados do. And though the Charles does flood, it is mostly further west. I haven't heard a case where the Esplanade/Beacon Hill/Back Bay or MIT were flooded.

by **sje46** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 10:21 am UTC

This is what I was talking about:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Englan ... f_May_2006
I remembr Boston definitely had flooding, but I'm not sure how much. Lawrence's streets were rivers, and my town was pretty much at the worst part (even though it is only a small town, there was very massive flooding and you couldn't get anywhere). But I guess maybe flooding is relatively rare in New England anyway.

You're right about the blizzards though.

But I have to wonder if tornadoes are really that bad. I mean, I've never seen one before, but they don't look like they would destroy a city and kill dozens of people. It'll destroy some buildings, yes, but it won't destroy the infrastructure of a city and cripple it.

Earthquakes and hurricanes? Those seem like a pretty big deal.

by **Jach** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 10:47 am UTC

Bwahaha. The Freud was the best.

by **bpmccain** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 11:09 am UTC

I guess Hurricane Bermuda never did quite find it. Ah wtf, Newfoundland will do just as good right?

Awesome.

by **Steroid** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 11:33 am UTC

A "Long Island Express aimed west" would hit Brooklyn or Staten Island before it hit Manhattan. Yes, it's a matter of time, but I think it's one of those million year things.

OTOH, should any storm that knocks out the network be called a Cat 6 hurricane? *rimshot*

by **Anoria** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 11:39 am UTC

Thank you, Randall, for getting Michigan right! It bothers me when people just draw it as a vague blob in the middle of some blue, or forget it and the Great Lakes completely, but you made an effort with all the coastline and that makes me very happy.

by **AdmiralJustin** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 11:53 am UTC

sje46 wrote:Well, Boston isn't completely impervious to destruction. WE got cold winters, a lot of snow, and I remember some pretty bad flooding a few years ago (maybe that was just the Merrimack valley . . .)
Melannen wrote:
sje46 wrote:@ californians/southerners poking fun at people inexperienced with earthquakes/hurricanes.

Well at least we Northerners don't freak out over a quarter inch of snow. And we don't say "y'all"

Spoiler:
Burn.

LMAO!!
Quarter inch? Geeze.. I can still find my golf ball in a quarter inch! Wait till there's at least a couple inches before giving up my game hahahaha

I've went to school on 5 inches.

I've gone to school on a foot and a half.

And at -35F, sadly I can't claim they were the same day.

by **PatrickRsGhost** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 12:07 pm UTC

RainbowPony wrote:
ParanoidDrone wrote:Slightly OT: I love it when people unfamiliar with hurricanes grossly overreact to them. A conversation between my friend and a friend of said friend after a category 3:

Friend: Hey, it's me.
Friend of Friend: YOU'RE ALIVE?
F: Um, yeah?
FOF: BUT THERE WAS A HURRICANE!
F: It was just a category 3...
FOF: A CATEGORY 3?
F: Yes...
FOF: SO YOU'RE ALIVE?
F: Um, yes.

The FOF was from California iirc, but come on. You only need to really worry once it hits category 4. Anything lower is just a massive thunderstorm for all practical purposes. Goodness knows we need the rain as of now. <_<

Again, OT from the comic, I'm from California and I tend to get similar reactions when it comes to Earthquakes. A family member from the East Coast came over when there was heavy construction going on and freaked out when they felt a bit of rumbling.

Me: What are you doing?
Aunt: It's an earthquake!!
Me: Not even a 4 pointer, get up.

That reminds me of that scene from "Independence Day" when Will Smith's character wakes up and inquires if it's an earthquake shaking the house, instead of the space ship coming in. The wife replies it wasn't even a 4-pointer, and to go back to sleep.

It also reminds me of that California Cheese commercial where the cows are predicting the earthquake, and they get excited when it does hit, because they see it as a massage, but complain they never last long enough.

by **ThemePark** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 12:12 pm UTC

AdmiralJustin wrote:
sje46 wrote:Well, Boston isn't completely impervious to destruction. WE got cold winters, a lot of snow, and I remember some pretty bad flooding a few years ago (maybe that was just the Merrimack valley . . .)
Melannen wrote:
sje46 wrote:@ californians/southerners poking fun at people inexperienced with earthquakes/hurricanes.

Well at least we Northerners don't freak out over a quarter inch of snow. And we don't say "y'all"

Spoiler:
Burn.

LMAO!!
Quarter inch? Geeze.. I can still find my golf ball in a quarter inch! Wait till there's at least a couple inches before giving up my game hahahaha

I've went to school on 5 inches.

I've gone to school on a foot and a half.

And at -35F, sadly I can't claim they were the same day.

I'm glad someone mentioned this. A foot of snow really isn't all that much, and definitely not enough to stop you from going out, it's just hard, is all.

We usually get a foot of snow once or twice during a winter. And then no snow for the rest of the winter.

by **aeiss** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 12:34 pm UTC

I love this comic.

But honestly, you wonder why people put up with all this crap, when you could just move to Australia.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/sudd ... 47976.html

Read this in the paper in the other day, think about it

by **Decker** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 12:50 pm UTC

ThemePark wrote:
AdmiralJustin wrote:Big ol quote pyramid about snow.

I'm glad someone mentioned this. A foot of snow really isn't all that much, and definitely not enough to stop you from going out, it's just hard, is all.

We usually get a foot of snow once or twice during a winter. And then no snow for the rest of the winter.

We got 91 inches over three days once. We couldn't find the car. Needless to day, school was closed. For a week.

by **NThisStyle-10-6** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 12:51 pm UTC

ThemePark wrote:
AdmiralJustin wrote:
sje46 wrote:Well, Boston isn't completely impervious to destruction. WE got cold winters, a lot of snow, and I remember some pretty bad flooding a few years ago (maybe that was just the Merrimack valley . . .)
Melannen wrote:
sje46 wrote:@ californians/southerners poking fun at people inexperienced with earthquakes/hurricanes.

Well at least we Northerners don't freak out over a quarter inch of snow. And we don't say "y'all"

Spoiler:
Burn.

LMAO!!
Quarter inch? Geeze.. I can still find my golf ball in a quarter inch! Wait till there's at least a couple inches before giving up my game hahahaha

I've went to school on 5 inches.

I've gone to school on a foot and a half.

And at -35F, sadly I can't claim they were the same day.

I'm glad someone mentioned this. A foot of snow really isn't all that much, and definitely not enough to stop you from going out, it's just hard, is all.

We usually get a foot of snow once or twice during a winter. And then no snow for the rest of the winter.

We don't get even a foot of snow during the winter. We're lucky if we get flurries, and having the ground covered is enough to get morning classes cancelled.

BUT!!! None of this "at least we don't say y'all" stuff. Y'all is unbelievably useful. It's a oneword for "you, plural" and it takes less time to say (if said by the right mouth) than something to the effect of youse-guyses, which is just silly.

by **okvol** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 1:05 pm UTC

You missed the upcoming Oklahoma hurricane. Last year, there was a tropical storm that re-formed (wait a minute, how do you reform a storm? Put it through rehab?) over Kingfisher, OK. It was a tropical depression, then the wind speeds increased from the low 30s to upper 40s and dumped way too much rain on flat ground. Of course, NOAA quietly said that this was the first to form over land, but since it was in Oklahoma nobody took note. I don't even think it made it to Fark.

by **sithpirateknight** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 1:06 pm UTC

I think we are all missing the real point of this comic. Obviously we are meant to wonder if the Illinois hurricane started on the more northern part of its route and went back on a more southernly route or vice-versa. And if it did go from north to south then why did it not pay Ohio a visit. Awesome comic.

by **Kel** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 1:12 pm UTC

Hey now, Illinois has Blagojevich. Isn't that disaster enough?

by **satancody** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 1:18 pm UTC

I work for a company which periodically DOES those exact damage assessments for New York. Let me put it this way: New York DOES NOT want you to see them.

by **woktiny** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 1:23 pm UTC

almightyze wrote:Interesting points about the Long Island Express (alt-text):
-It literally changed the shape of several parts of Long Island. These changes remain today.

Do you suppose that is why Randall left LI off the map?

by **mache-b123** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 1:23 pm UTC

When you leave at cos(x) path, and you are SURE that will never happen, you are able to suggest Randall: "hey, Randall! Hurricanes don't climb mountains. They're not Lance Armstrong!" And relocate cos(x) something like... cos(x)+9.

Nice ones, anyway. And I think I'll never see a hurricane. But well, here we got lots and lots of mountain slides, so... we do really need a hurricane?

by **Plasma Man** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 1:27 pm UTC

AdmiralJustin wrote:I've gone to school on a foot and a half.

And at -35F, sadly I can't claim they were the same day.

Did you lose the other half of the foot to frostbite?

I like this one, hurricanes red and blue are my favourite, with hurricane cos (x) close behind and then the ampersand in WTHIB.

Fortunately, the UK does not get hurricanes, so I'm safe enough. Last year my town did grind to a halt when approximately half an inch of snow fell. People just seem to panic over what they're not used to.

by **Apemeat** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 1:35 pm UTC

Kel wrote:Hey now, Illinois has Blagojevich. Isn't that disaster enough?

Exactly what I was thinking. Plus this goddamn 10.25% sales tax in Cook County (note: highest in the country). And the Cubs.

by **Random832** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 1:45 pm UTC

Hurricane Freud

by **cclifton** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 1:58 pm UTC

Ok... this is my first post (hi everybody). I couldn't resist. I'm a physics / meteorology double major who specializes in hurricanes.

Effing hilarious comic. Made my day, and totally made up for my adviser trashing my summer research final presentation draft.

Anyway,
Regarding the alt text, one of my professors has done some work on this:
Colle et al 2008: New York City's Vulnerability to Coastal Flooding. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society
Link: http://ams.allenpress.com/perlserv/?req ... BAMS2401.1

Regarding Hurricane Illinois Has-It-Too-Easy, "Hurricane" Huron, which formed over the great lakes, comes to mind:
http://ams.allenpress.com/perlserv/?req ... 2.0.CO%3B2
Unless something else bizarre happened, it couldn't have tracked east over Illinois.

Also, to whoever was saying that Californians have it easy, that's another one of those only-a-matter-of-time things. There are East-Pacific hurricanes all the time. San Diego is far enough south that a really (un)lucky hurricane track could be disastrous. SSTs off of california are low, but a fast-moving storm could still have some strength if it hit SoCal. Actually, I remember a recent one going up the Gulf of California. It didn't start out too strong, so it dissipated before it got to the north end of the gulf. But take something stronger, and put it on a fast course, and it could nail inlant Cali via the Gulf.

Uhh... sorry bout the wall o' text

by **kriel** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 2:49 pm UTC

I still don't get why people like the ampersand better than the concept of Where the Hell Is Bermuda

by **Sagard** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 2:53 pm UTC

We got 91 inches over three days once. We couldn't find the car. Needless to day, school was closed. For a week.

Decker, where the hell do you live? Seriously, I'll start filling out job applications right now.

...can you imagine the skiing?

I love this comic.

But honestly, you wonder why people put up with all this crap, when you could just move to Australia.

Aeiss, some people don't have the fortitude to deal with those cane toads.

by **Iconoclast** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 3:00 pm UTC

almightyze wrote:Interesting points about the Long Island Express (alt-text):
-It literally changed the shape of several parts of Long Island. These changes remain today.
-Rhode Island was wrecked after the storm. Providence was Venice, from what I've been told.

From a website:

The central business district is located in a shallow natural basin with an elevation of 8 to 12 feet above mean sea level and is bordered by the Providence River. In September of 1938 and during Hurricane Carol in August 1954, downtown Providence had experienced a water depth of over eight feet. The hurricane in 1938 had been a deadly and destructive one, costing $200 million in damages and 250 lives; $120 million for the city of Providence. Amazingly, only 3.1 inches of rain had fallen in the city of Providence. On August 31, 1954, Hurricane Carol lashed its fury on the Providence area. The city of Providence suffered a greater amount of concentrated damage than any community caught in the path of the storm - upwards of $41 million. Flood tides were at 13 feet above normal. To make matters worst, the U.S. National Weather Bureau failed to give an adequate warning and the storm arrived at high tide. Gusts of wind, at a rate of 72 to 100 miles per hour, blew into Providence along with water as high at 8 feet in the downtown area.

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