Posted on 09/12/2008 5:12:09 AM PDT by NautiNurse
Large and dangerous Hurricane Ike approaching the Upper Texas coast. Mandatory evacuations began in earnest Thursday as an estimated one million coastal residents headed inland. There were widespread reports of gas stations running out of fuel.
The National Weather Service posted dire storm surge predictions of 20-25 ft storm surge along the coast and bay heads. Hurricane warnings covered a 400 mile swath of the Gulf of Mexico.
Wholesale gasoline prices spiked 30 percent Thursday, or nearly $1 a gallon, out of fear of what Ike might do.
Public Advisory Updated every 3 hours
Discussion Updated every 6 hours
Buoy data: Western Gulf of Mexico
Houston/Galveston Long Range Radar
Corpus Christi Long Range Radar
Brownsville Long Range Radar
Lake Charles Long Range Radar
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Additional Resources:
Navy Tropical Cyclone
Storm Pulse Very cool site
KHOU Houston
ABC 13 News Houston
FOX News Houston
KPLC Lake Charles
KFDM 6 Beaumont/Port Arthur
KKBMT 12 Beaumont
KRIS-TV Corpus Christi
KZTV Corpus Christi
Brazoria County Emergency Management
Galveston County Emergency Management
Chambers Country Emergency Management
Liberty County Emergency Management
| Category | Wind Speed | Barometric Pressure | Storm Surge | Damage Potential |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tropical Depression |
< 39 mph < 34 kts |
Minimal | ||
| Tropical Storm |
39 - 73 mph 34 - 63 kts |
Minimal | ||
| Hurricane 1 (Weak) |
74 - 95 mph 64 - 82 kts |
28.94" or more 980.02 mb or more |
4.0' - 5.0' 1.2 m - 1.5 m |
Minimal damage to vegetation |
| Hurricane 2 (Moderate) |
96 - 110 mph 83 - 95 kts |
28.50" - 28.93" 965.12 mb - 979.68 mb |
6.0' - 8.0' 1.8 m - 2.4 m |
Moderate damage to houses |
| Hurricane 3 (Strong) |
111 - 130 mph 96 - 112 kts |
27.91" - 28.49" 945.14 mb - 964.78 mb |
9.0' - 12.0' 2.7 m - 3.7 m |
Extensive damage to small buildings |
| Hurricane 4 (Very strong) |
131 - 155 mph 113 - 135 kts |
27.17" - 27.90" 920.08 mb - 944.80 mb |
13.0' - 18.0' 3.9 m - 5.5 m |
Extreme structural damage |
| Hurricane 5 (Devastating) |
Greater than 155 mph Greater than 135 kts |
Less than 27.17" Less than 920.08 mb |
Greater than 18.0' Greater than 5.5m |
Catastrophic building failures possible |
Previous Threads:
Hurricane Ike Live Thread II
Hurricane Ike Live Thread I
TS Hanna, Hurricane Ike & TS Josephine [Other than that, the tropics are calm]
Tropical Storms Hanna, Ike and Josephine, TD Gustav (Other than that, the tropics are calm)
You’re on!
The point is a direct hit at Galveston west beach of anything higher than a Cat 2 is a major event whereas it might not be if the storm was coming onshore at Pensacola. The shallow shelf and bay funnel effect amplify the storm effects. That’s what makes this one seem worse.
Houston Mayor is a dem. Considering some of the other dem mayors in the country, he isn’t too bad.
That 125mph is the wind velocity 122meters above the surface - about 400 feet.
Surface winds are considerably less.
Do it!
Do it now!
Do it often and count me in.
I'm in as long as I got power and The Keep don't get wrecked.
I know I won’t be watching FNC hurricane coverage tonight.
Just interviewed a mother with two children and her sister staying on Galveston. Wants to take care of her house and her pets. Good Lord. Seconds later the years old pier in the background disappears into the ocean.
I feel HAPPY! I think I'll go for a walk!
I saw a screencap on another forum...was there really some moron in a BEAR SUIT dancing around on top of the seawall just now?!?
I guess God has a special place in His plan for idiots...
}:-)4
Can you add me too? Thanks!
“I watched Rita like a hawk for them. Made the right calls, too.”
I will verify that. I was with dirtboy then. He hit it dead on, and not due to chance, but due to excellent analysis.
If bad comes to worse we got a couch and beer over here!
And the fetch for this thing, pushing water into the NE Texas coast, goes all the way back to Cuba. This beast is almost like a hybrid between a hurricane and a N'oreaster.
How much less is considerably less?
At this point it looks like you’ll barely be on the clean side.
Tides for Galveston Bay Entrance, south jetty starting with September 12, 2008.
Day High Tide Height Sunrise Moon Time % Moon
/Low Time Feet Sunset Visible
F 12 High 4:10 AM 2.3 7:02 AM Set 4:15 AM 87
12 Low 8:31 AM 2.0 7:27 PM Rise 5:56 PM
12 High 12:35 PM 2.1
12 Low 8:06 PM 0.4
Sa 13 High 4:14 AM 2.3 7:03 AM Set 5:15 AM 93
13 Low 8:35 AM 1.9 7:26 PM Rise 6:28 PM
13 High 1:54 PM 2.1
13 Low 8:42 PM 0.6
One station just showed a rattler and rat crossing a highway.
I was fervently hoping Ike would mimic Rita closely enough to where Ike made landfall east of Galveston Bay. But the hope of that happening became very remote last night when the forecast track stopped shifting eastward. Now, if anything, it is shifting slightly westward. So I don’t see how Galveston Bay escapes this with just a minor impact.
Good luck OB1,my son just got back from Gustav on Sunday and they said he had to wait 2 weeks before he could go out again-FEMA rules.He is a firefighter.He wanted to go right back down again.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.