Posted on 07/20/2008 8:36:53 AM PDT by NautiNurse
Newly formed Tropical Storm Dolly over the NW Caribbean Sea near 18.4N 84.2W. 1008 MB at 11AM this morning. Max sustained winds 40KT, gusts 50KT, moving NW at 15KT.
lights off. shutting down lap top to save battery. bbl
Hang in there, and please check in when you can.
Port Isabel and South Padre spent a long time in the western and southern eyewalls. Granted, those are weaker sectors, but a few hours of 50-80 mph winds can wreak a fair amount of havoc.
I think I understand now I always thought the eyewall would be on the edge of the eye.
shows what I know.
It all depends on the hurricane. Dolly has a rather large eye (22 nautical miles at 12:33 pm Central).
Tried to take a nap at lunch, but the stupid beep-beeps of the tornado warnings kept coming every 3-5 minutes.
Almost identical track of Allen in '80. Port Mansfield looks like "ground zero", somewhat like Allen. Dolly may be coming ashore a tad north of Allen. And your loop looks like Dolly may have a bit more NW track than Allen. Hopefully most of the northeast semicircle will come ashore over Laguna Madre and Baffin Bay, kinda like Allen, which was somewhat a godsend...remember, Big Al was Cat 5, although he came ashore as a 3.
Hope your power comes back on soon!
Local news reports that cable tv is going of and on,
I am amazed that our dish tv hasn’t lost it’s signal, not even once today. Losing dish tv during storms is the most common complaint and a big reason many use cable. Hmmm
Rain is increasing now. Getting much heavier.
“I think they’re thinking something like a Beulah scenario where Dolly intensifies then moves in slow and stalls up against the Sierra Madres, and dumps into the Rio Grande.”
Not to hijack the thread, but in your scenario, Mother Nature will have done more in one storm to temporarily shut down the border than the Government has done.
Is it just me, or is Dolly a rather big tornado producer?
Oooh, I hate when that happens.
Same here with DirecTV dish. It’s the first thing to go during an everyday t-storm, but it seems to stay functional throughout tropical storms. Had the upstairs signal go out just once because the sat cable got a kink in it from the wind. Had to replace the cable. The downstairs box never missed a beat.
You have the 2 pm update?
That’s an odd phenominon. Could be that the tropical storms have their precip more evenly-distributed vertically (just a S-SWAG).
Statement as of 2:00 PM CDT on July 23, 2008
...Dolly made landfall in South Padre Island...expected to move
farther inland over southern Texas later today...
a Hurricane Warning remains in effect for the coast of Texas from
Brownsville to Corpus Christi...and for the northeastern coast of
Mexico from Rio San Fernando northward to the border between Mexico
and the United States. Preparations to protect life and property
should be rushed to completion.
A Tropical Storm Warning remains in effect from north of Corpus
Christi to Port O’Connor.
A Tropical Storm Warning and a Hurricane Watch are in effect from La
Pesca to south of Rio San Fernando.
For storm information specific to your area...including possible
inland watches and warnings...please monitor products issued
by your local weather office.
At 200 PM CDT...1900z...the eye of Hurricane Dolly was located
near latitude 26.4 north...longitude 97.3 west. This position is
over Laguna Madre about 35 miles...60 km... north-northeast of
Brownsville Texas and 30 miles...51 km...east southeast of
Raymondville.
Dolly is now moving toward the west-northwest near 7 mph...11 km/hr.
On the forecast track...the eye of Hurricane Dolly will be moving
inland over far south Texas later today. Persons are advised not to
venture outdoors during the relative calm of the eye because winds
will soon increase quite rapidly.
Because a portion of the circulation of Dolly has been interacting
with land...the maximum sustained winds have decreased to near 95
mph... 150 km/hr...with higher gusts. Dolly is now a category one
hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Stronger winds...especially
in gusts...are likely on high rise buildings. A gradual weakening
should begin soon as the eye moves farther inland.
Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 25 miles...35 km...from
the center...and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 140
miles...220 km. Harlingen Texas measured 54 mph...87 km/hr sustained
winds with gusts to 74 mph...119 km/hr.
Minimum central pressure reported by an Air Force reconnaissance
plane at landfall was 967 mb...28.56 inches.
Dolly is expected to produce total rainfall accumulations of 8 to 12
inches...with isolated amounts of 20 inches...over portions of
south Texas and northeastern Mexico over the next few days.
Brownsville National Weather Service Doppler radar has estimated up
to a foot of rain so far over portions of coastal far south Texas.
These rains will likely cause widespread flooding across portions
of south Texas and northeast Mexico.
Coastal storm surge flooding of 6 to 8 feet above normal tide
levels...along with large and dangerous battering waves...can be
expected near and to the north of where the center makes landfall.
Isolated tornadoes are possible over portions of south Texas today
and tonight.
Repeating the 200 PM CDT position....26.4 N...97.3 W. Movement
toward...west-northwest near 7 mph. Maximum sustained winds...95
mph. Minimum central pressure...967 mb.
The next advisory will be issued by the National Hurricane Center at
400 PM CDT.
$$
Forecaster Avila
Conditions are worsening here in west Harlingen.
Winds and rain have increased quite a bit with sheets of rain blowing thru from the NW.
We’ve got some big limbs and a tree down.
Good thing hubby decided to move the motorhome or those limbs and tree would have fell on it.
Stay safe,(((Hugs)))
Hang in there! She’s just creeping along. Harlingen is getting a nasty bout of convection on the SW side of the storm. It will likely get even worse before easing up.
Thank you, Fatima.
We’re doing fine for now.
I feel pretty safe in my home.
We built it to island code with extra hurricane clips and straps. Plus we’re on the highest ground in our area. We made it thru a 500 year flood without flooding. I guess my biggest concern are the trees surrounding my home.
Local news is showing damage around town of metal awnings and signs blowing down.
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