2008 Hurricane Season

[Codythemonkey 0]

We might have the same thing skigeek. The wind is starting to pick up and the rain is starting to end.

[Codythemonkey 0]

Edit: Double post

[brancra 1,201]

Originally posted by: mks24 Hanna's not a Cat-3 it's Ike that is.  Unfortunately Ike's path is uncertain, at least in the long term(it could pass south of Florida, hit Florida or curve up the Eastern Seaboard).  

On a side note that 5 day projected path for Hanna keeps it a tropical storm all the way across the Atlantic.  Never really seen that before.    

quote>

Well, what usually happens is that they turn extratropical as they cross past Newfoundland. When that happens, its no longer considered an active storm (rather, it's a powerful extratropical storm---sort of like a Nor'Easter, to put it in perspective). 

[Duke87 1,070]

Yeah, I remember Floyd, too. A tree fell across the street just up the block from our house. Blocked the road off for a few days before it was cleared (fortunately we're not on a dead end, so the people beyond it weren't trapped). Knocked out power for the better part of the night, too. I remember hearing a huge crash. Initially we thought maybe a transformer had blown. My father grabbed a flashlight and went outside to investigate. He reported about the tree.

Back in the present day... it's raining here. Been raining pretty much nonstop since about noon (It's just after 9:30 now). Wind? Not much. Raindrops falling straight down for the most part. I haven't been outside since this morning (before it started raining), so I haven't felt it, but I've seen it.

No lightning and thunder, either.

Being in the Bronx, power has stayed on without fault (as you'd expect). I'd say there's a pretty good chance my family back in Stamford has lost power at some point today, though. Lotsa trees and tree branches knocking wires down whenever it rains up there.

Nice that this is happening on a Saturday, though. I can just stay inside and ignore it. During the week I'd have to go to class and would thus have to get wet. (Actually, I don't have class on Friday this semester, but Monday through Thursday...)

[Odainsaker 2,137]

Great, Hurricane Ike, after having just pulverized Cuba (everybody see the water wall splashing over the buildings?), is now aiming for the Texas coast. Earlier tracks last week had it heading towards the already-battered Louisiana, but one odd model suggested it might instead hit the South Texas coast and suddenly veer northward to pass directly over inland San Antonio. Sure enough, that single oddball model was the closest, and the re-energizing storm is slated to hit near Corpus Christi and quickly move northward, the eye passing just to the east of San Antonio. Ike is large enough that we are still expecting 100+ mph hurricane force winds and potential tornadoes (rare for SA) within the city sometime early Saturday.  Fortunately, San Antonio has been the logistical staging center for Texas relief operations for Louisiana due to the large military infrastructure here, and those resources are already being reorganized for evacuating Corpus Christi.

I haven't endured a hurricane since Hurricane Iwa ravaged Kauai and Oahu in 1982, leaving a stunning mess in an unprepared State that hadn't suffered a hurricane strike in over 20 years. I can still recall waters at our doorstep, neighbors canoeing down our street, island-wide blackouts for days, and the vast Hickam Parade Mall filled with a giant tangled mass of downed trees. It took crews weeks to clear that, but as the local school was walled in by the rubble and inaccessible, us kids on surprise vacation bid them not to hurry. I guess Hawaiian island culture isn't big on looting their disaster areas. At the time, Hurricane Iwa was the costliest storm to hit Hawaii, shaking everyone out of their complacency and exposing the real vulnerabilities of the islands' rapid urban development since Statehood. Hurricanes are still relatively rare for Hawaii, and it seems Iwa is the hurricane both residents and ex-residents remember most vividly, though often incorrectly as "Hurricane Ewa" (confusing its name and pronounciation with the better-known Ewa, a district of southwest Oahu). Thankfully, I just missed the strike of the even bigger and costlier Hurricane Iniki on Hawaii ten years later. Iniki would hit as a Category 4 storm, and a creepy story is of gauges at the Navy radar station at Makaha Ridge giving a wind reading of a frightening 227mph before being blown off. Yikes! Still, some official comparisons at the time suggest that if Iwa on its track had hit again instead of Iniki, and given the then current urban development patterns, Iwa at a mere Category 1 could still have been 3 times more damaging and costly.

Iwa, Iniki, Ike...anyone see a pattern? I do!  I'm even accidently mispronouncing Ike as "ee-kay"!

[Easy Bakes 253]

Ike Gaining strenght heading toward south texas coast.

[Micah 16]

You know, I didn't take this storm seriously at all this whole time, but I'm seriously starting to consider evacuating. Most of my family has been wanting to leave the forever; however, after the crap I had to go through during Rita (probably the most miserable time in my life) and having to waste 32 hours of my life in a car while only moving a few miles is something that I never want to happen again. So, I'm just waiting til tomorrow to see what I need to do. So far, looks like the eye will go over my house in northern Houston.

[hawkpride147 1]

my sis is considering leaving college station as they're expecting ike to still be around a cat 2 when it gets there...its being predicted that it will still be tropical storm strength when it reaches the dallas/fort worth area.

[packerfan386 3]

the latest track from the NHC

[xV.I.N.C.E.N.T.x 0]

I guess we all have our threats of bad weather. But ALAS... A hurricane is NOT what I would want to experience. I have traveled a lot over the past 10 years. I have yet to encounter a hurricane.

[crazyarchitect 7]

Yeah, that track puts it just west of my area, we hunkering down and getting the hell out of dodge later today lol

[Micah 16]

Great... the eye runs just 20 miles west of my house in Spring. My dad's/stepmom's house in Pearland is going to get the worst of it and since it's on a manmade lake, the water damage will be epic.

[hawkpride147 1]

dallas fort worth looks to possible still get a tropical storm...pretty far inland to normally get that...

[Easy Bakes 253]

Originally posted by: hawkpride147 dallas fort worth looks to possible still get a tropical storm...pretty far inland to normally get that...quote>

 

That would be interesting, a couple years ago there was huge storm in our area

40-50MPH wind gusts that was interesting to drive  in.

Check out the storm off the Baha Coast, almost as big as Ike

Mexico Storm

[packerfan386 3]

UPDATE

[Micah 16]

Anyone have the feeling it's going to pull a "Rita"? I bet it goes to the Texas-Louisana border.

[Easy Bakes 253]

New path puts Ike land fall near Galveston TX early Saturday.

Still only a Cat 2 but the storm is huge and the surges cover a huge area along the gulf coasts.

[hawkpride147 1]

well one meterologist on the weather channel is saying thay we're missing something...that this is likely stronger than we're seeing...the storm surge is indicating that it is a cat 5. there is an inner eye wall that can mask the true outer eye wall. plus the sheer size and the sharpness of the organization of the storm seems to point to him being right. why do the models show it as still a cat 2 well inland while it only hits as a 3. radar can be inaccurate from a distance...and the way the planes measure the hurricane can have inaccuracies...they fly above the hurricane, fly down into the eye and measure the eye wall. that said if we fly into a weaker masking eye wall, we won't see the true strength. and it's over open water where there are no reports of its actual strength. plus the fact that the wind speed measure shows an area of hurricane force winds much, much larger than katrina...

slightly off the subject yet still relevant, we constantly mention katrina when talking about hurricanes now, but it seems no one remembers andrew...

[Meg 368]

Originally posted by: hawkpride147

slightly off the subject yet still relevant, we constantly mention katrina when talking about hurricanes now, but it seems no one remembers andrew...quote>

I remember Andrew.  I even remember Camille and Agnes.   But Katrina is more recent so it is on people's minds more.

[masochist 111]

My parents are right in the path of Ike (Southeast Texas), so they're heading off to a friend's house in Austin.  I just hope they don't run into a situation like Rita's evacuation (where people were in traffic for hours and hours on end, going an average of .5 miles per hour).

Originally posted by: hawkpride147 slightly off the subject yet still relevant, we constantly mention katrina when talking about hurricanes now, but it seems no one remembers andrew...quote>

No one talk about Camille, either...but that's because Katrina has usurped Andrew's status as the most destructive hurricane of the modern era.  Not the deadliest, but certainly the costliest.  Also...remember that hurricane a good number of years ago (it may have been Daniel) that was projected to simply skirt the East Coast?  It did as predicted, but then came to a dead stop for a day or so east of NC, and after a while headed due west straight to the coast where absolutely no one was expecting it to go.  I've been waiting for a hurricane to pull that stunt again one day...

[Easy Bakes 253]

Water already  over Galveston Seawall.

Link

[hamsterTK 93]

check out channel 13:

Anyways I work in a grocery store and we are gonna be swamped today. And I'll be up there late when the first parts of the storm come in. Yeah...

[Micah 16]

Yeah, school was cancelled today, so for about 2 hours I've been cleaning up stuff in the front and backyard. If the track stays on its course, the eye will be about 5 miles away from my house since I live not so far away from 1-45 on the northside of Houston (Spring).

I guess my bet about it going towards the Texas/Louisana border is fading. Oh well, my aunt in Beaumont really doesn't need another hurricane to hit there anyway. A tree went through her house during Rita and just a week ago, another one went through her house because of Gustav.

[hawkpride147 1]

well the storm isn't supposed to make land fall for another 12+ hours, but tropical storm force winds are starting to affect galveston and houston...

[Easy Bakes 253]

Expecting 25-30ft waves in Galveston

Edges of Ike over Texas Coast.

4PM Central

[crazyarchitect 7]

I'm evacuated to Dallas now, I don't think there will be much house come back to in Galveston

[Easy Bakes 253]

Originally posted by: crazyarchitect I'm evacuated to Dallas now, I don't think there will be much house come back to in Galvestonquote>

 

Welcome To Dallas.

[Micah 16]

It appears to be dieing more and more in every forecast. Looks like it may actually be a Cat. 1 by the time it hits Galveston. However, since this thing is so massive, the giant storm surge amounts are inevitable no matter how powerful the storm is.

I went to a beach-house this summer on Surfside. I wonder if it will still be there.

Edit: crazyarchitect, is that your only home?

[Jazzmaster 716]

I thought that Gustav would be hurricane of the year, but for now, it seems Ike is taking that title.  Worst part is, from what I heard, the evacuations came really late...

Still, it's very rare you hear the emergency officials say "if you're stupid enough to stay and risk your life, you are all on your own".  Good to see they take a hurricane of any magnitude seriously this year, we seem to be more prepared for storms all along the Gulf Coast lately.

[Easy Bakes 253]

Winds up to 110.