Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Tropical Storm Keith (1988)

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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 promoted by SandyGeorgia 18:41, 27 January 2009 [1].

Tropical Storm Keith (1988)[edit]

Nominator(s): ♬♩ Hurricanehink (talk, –Juliancolton Tropical Cyclone)

Yes, another storm article, but it's a good one. It's from 20 years ago, meaning it's older than most users on here would remember. After some copyediting and pushing by another user, I decided to nominate this article, which I feel is a great standard for a tropical cyclone article in the 1980s. Two quick notes: first, I used Lexis-Nexis for several of the sources, hence why there are no links for them. Second, I know I have another active FAC right now, but it has two supports, and I received two copyedits to deal with the oppose (which the person has not responded to yet). So, as the saying goes, here goes nothing. ♬♩ Hurricanehink (talk) 05:51, 3 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Comments from Truco (talk · contribs)

Lead
  • It tracked northwestward, and under generally favorable conditions reached a peak intensity of 70 mph (110 km/h) shortly before striking the northeastern tip of the Yucatán Peninsula. - IMO, a comma should be added after conditions, it just reads better
  • Minimal damage was reported in Mexico, which was still recovering from the devastating effects of Hurricane Gilbert two months prior. - to me, devastating sounds like WP:POV, if you remove it, it still has the same meaning
  • Overall damage was widespread but fairly minor, totaling about $7.3 million (1988 USD, $12.7 million 2007 USD). - in this context, a comma before but should be added
  • Near the coast, damage occurred mainly from storm surge and beach erosion, while further inland, flooding and downed trees and power lines were the extent of the damage. - which coast? --Truco 14:55, 3 January 2009 (UTC)
Body
  • The trough which turned Keith northwestward rapidly accelerated northeastward; this left the storm moving slowly to the northwest until making landfall on the northeastern tip of the Yucatán Peninsula at 0800 UTC on November 21, at an intensity slightly below hurricane status. - comma before which and after northwestward
  • On November 20, shortly before the tropical depression intensified into a tropical storm, the government of Honduras issued a tropical storm warning for the Swan Islands, along with a tropical storm watch for the northwestern coastline and three islands. - since you're talking about the Swan Islands earlier, it would be better if you state that you are talking about the Honduran coastline.
  • Still recovering from the devastating effects of Hurricane Gilbert two months prior, Keith caused only minor damage in the area. - like above.
    • I specified Yucatán Peninsula. ♬♩ Hurricanehink (talk) 16:54, 3 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]
      • My bad, I meant the same suggestion I suggested for the lead above.Truco 17:00, 3 January 2009 (UTC)
        • Oh, I see. I fixed that. Are you ready to support yet, or are there other issues? ♬♩ Hurricanehink (talk) 17:07, 3 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]
          • Someone's eager for support :P--Truco 17:10, 3 January 2009 (UTC)
  • In Lee County damage totaled $1.5 million (1988 USD, $2.6 million 2007 USD), - comma after Lee County--Truco 16:49, 3 January 2009 (UTC)
  • Support - A very interesting article about a storm from 20 yrs ago that fulfills WP:WIAFA.--Truco 17:10, 3 January 2009 (UTC)
  • Thanks. All images have verifiable licenses and adequate descriptions. Awadewit (talk) 23:50, 3 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Comments - sources look okay, links checked out with the link checker tool. (I changed the one parameter that should have been work from publisher) Ealdgyth - Talk 16:33, 4 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Weak support - I found the prose stilted in places and it would still benefit from a little more attention (I don't like all those "whiles"). I made a few edits (suggestions), but on the whole this article is worthy of FA status. Graham Colm Talk 18:11, 24 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

PS. I think in 100 or 1000 years time that these descriptions of the weather in the 20-21st century, will be a goldmine for climatologists. Graham Colm Talk 23:03, 25 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Support Comments from Dabomb87 (talk · contribs)

  • "Tropical Storm Keith was the latest Atlantic tropical cyclone to strike the Continental United States since 1925." IMO, "latest" seems vague. Was it the latest in the year or the most recent overall? Also, can you make the piped link more explicit?
  • "totaling to $7.3 million (1988 USD, $12.7 million 2007 USD)
  • "A tropical wave moved off the coast of Africa on November 5—a tropical wave is an elongated low pressure area embedded within the easterly trade winds." Very strange order here. Maybe: "A tropical wave—an elongated low pressure area embedded within the easterly trade winds—moved off the coast of Africa on November 5."
  • "An eastward moving"-->An eastward-moving
  • "this left the storm moving slowly to the northwest" noun + -ing sentence stucture is awkward.
  • "although when the motion of Keith became more clear, the watch was canceled." What in the motion of Keith allowed them to cancel the watch?
  • "state water officials ordered to decrease the water levels" Whom did they order?
  • "tropical storm warning was posted from Jupiter northward" Can we have a state to accompany "Jupiter"?
  • "Still recovering from the effects of Hurricane Gilbert two months prior, Keith caused only minor damage in the Yucatán Peninsula." Sounds like Keith was still recovering from the effects.
  • Inconsistent ref date formats. Dabomb87 (talk) 19:58, 24 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    • This is a result of the varying cite X templates; not sure how to fix it. Done with the rest of the comments, except for one which I've explained above. Thanks for the review, –Juliancolton Tropical Cyclone 00:12, 25 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    • I accept your explanation on your first point. On your second point, I know a little trick to bypass those inconsistencies, but it has to be done manually and I can't (read:don't fell like) doing it right now. I will come back to support in a little bit of time. Dabomb87 (talk) 00:19, 25 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]
      • Actually, I didn't have to do anything fancy. Since they unlinked the accessdates in the cite web template, you can use whatever format you want. Take a look at the last ref though, the access date is 2009-02-02, that can't be right. Dabomb87 (talk) 04:11, 25 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Comments - I would like the prose clarified before I can support. - Support --Aude (talk) 23:47, 25 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

  • "receiving the name Keith. Keith quickly intensified" - Can you say this without repeating the word "Keith"?
  • "and on November 21 the storm attained" - punctuation appears to be missing
  • "Early in its duration, Keith dropped around 3 inches (75 mm) of rainfall along the northern coast of Honduras, with totals of around 10 inches (250 mm) reported on offshore islands." - This sentence is not quite clear. Saying "early in its duration" seems to contradict saying "totals" (whole duration?); I also don't like the "with" in the sentence, and thought maybe to change it to "and". But then, it would be saying "Early in its duration [...] totals of around 10 inches reported on offshore islands." I realize that the storm affected Honduras and then moved on to other places, so that might be what you mean by "early in its duration". The wording here could be improved to make things more clear for the reader.

Other than these minor issues, the article appears to meet the FAC criteria. The sources are all good, and I'm glad to see Lexis-Nexis consulted to access sources not directly available on the web, to help make the article more comprehensive. --Aude (talk) 15:49, 25 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

All done. Thanks for the review. –Juliancolton Tropical Cyclone 21:38, 25 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support Comments
    • "Based on ship observations, it is estimated the system organized ..." Who estimated?
    • "An eastward-moving upper-level trough in the Gulf of Mexico turned the depression to the northwest." Turning it "to the northwest" suggests placement but not movement. Turning it "northwest" would suggest movement.. which is the correct meaning?
    • Avoid constructions such as "this caused the storm to move slowly" and "this was due to increased vertical wind shear" where "this" refers to something stated prior. Restate the subject for clarity (this what?)
    • "... very large upper-level low ..." Huh?
    • "... the government of Honduras issued a tropical storm warning for the Swan Islands, along with a tropical storm watch for the northwestern Honduran coastline and three islands." Three islands other than the Swan Islands? Do you mean three more islands?
--Laser brain (talk) 22:02, 25 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]
{{done}}. Thanks for the review, –Juliancolton Tropical Cyclone 22:19, 25 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Great, thanks for the quick response, and it's always a pleasure reading the tropical storm articles. --Laser brain (talk) 22:28, 25 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support I have low expectations for storm articles but this one had a lot and surprised me. I didn't see anything that stuck out or was bad. It seems like most problems were addressed above. Disclosure - I am part of the WikiCup and in opposition with JC. I have not worked out any deals with him, nor discussed the article with him. Ottava Rima (talk) 23:15, 25 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]
The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this page.
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