Nomenclature

David · #1 06-03-2004, 07:11 PM

Okay, I saw that dumb disaster movie the other night, & I've got news for all of you. That is NOT a tsunami (tidal wave) that hits New York. Everybody in the press & elsewhere is calling it a tidal wave, but it's not. For the past few weeks, I've been puzzled over just how they were going to work in a tidal wave (a seismological event) in a movie about global warming/cooling, tornadoes & hurricanes (meteorological events).

Sure enough, they didn't. It's a storm surge that swamps Manhattan, caused by the intense low pressure at the center of the cyclonic storm that hits North America -- similar to the storm surges that are generated by hurricanes as they move ashore. The powerful low pressure at the center of the storm literally lifts the water column & carries it ashore, flooding low-lying areas.

So watch your nomenclature!

DeadliestPoison · #2 06-03-2004, 07:20 PM

I remember your tsunami pictures that you sent to the List a while back. (I'm FaceBhindTheMask).

littlelies7 · #3 06-03-2004, 07:23 PM

I can take it you didn't like "The Day After Tomorrow"?

hayley · #4 06-04-2004, 07:53 AM

David, I saw it the other day, and I actually had a thought about how much that would piss you off.

I know just a little about tsunamis (more than your average person, but less than some), but I knew that wasn't a tsunami.

Aside from that, the special affects were awfully cool, and it certainly scared the **** out of me.