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| -Signs, Portents, and the Weather- |
| Gustav Is Coming! |
| 2008-08-26 |
| Gustav will be traversing warm waters and will have favorable conditions for strengthening. It’s therefore appears likely Gustav will become a major hurricane.” The NHC agrees: “MOST INDICATIONS ARE THAT GUSTAV WILL BE AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS HURRICANE IN THE NORTHWESTERN CARIBBEAN SEA IN A FEW DAYS.” And, I would add, in the Gulf of Mexico a couple of days after that. such a forecast trend raises alarm bells vis a vis New Orleans, not necessarily because it’s the most likely target (again, it’s way too early to know that), but because the Big Easy remains by far the most vulnerable American city to a direct hit from a major hurricane — which, I remind you, Hurricane Katrina was not; Katrina made landfall well east of New Orleans as a weakening storm, and was by no means the “worst-case scenario.” Bottom line, if I lived in New Orleans, and I didn’t own a car, I would start asking around among my friends who do own cars: Are you going to be around this holiday weekend? If there’s an evacuation, can I have a ride? Just in case. People are buzzing about Gustav because it seems to have the best chance of any tropical system since the record 2005 Atlantic hurricane season’s Katrina, Rita and Wilma to traverse the central Gulf of Mexico, where the loop current stands ready to aid in the rapid intensification of a hurricane. A glance at the Tropical Cyclone Heat Potential map shows that, if it follows the expected track, Gustav will be traversing some of the most explosively warm waters in the entire ocean: If GFDL or NGPS models are right, don't look for me here Monday. |
| Posted by:Glenmore |
| #11 Cat 2, huh? Wet yourself much? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2008-08-26 21:52 |
| #10 Cannot withstand a cat 2? Really? They better have plans to move everyone completely out of S New Orleans and 15 ft above sea level. And if it hits there as a cat 5, stop with the nonsense of rebuilding there. Rebuild to the north like they should have last times. New Orleans rises to the N, Old Orleans stays south in the above the waterine areas (whcih is where al the tourist, business and historical stuff is anyway). |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2008-08-26 21:09 |
| #9 I believe that the Corps of Engineers stated a month ago that New Orleans Dikes could not withstand a Level 2 Hurricane. Everybody Panic |
| Posted by: Chief 2008-08-26 19:18 |
| #8 Jack, please NO - I've had tornado warning sirens here for 3 straight days, S & E of Denver. Getting kind of tired of the tornadoes. Be more than happy to send them up north to Mile High on Thursday. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2008-08-26 16:23 |
| #7 The Seattle papers today hava a long-woe-is-me piece about Katrina vicitms STILL suffering due to fraudulent contractors. One (dumb)victim even stated that she had forked out a lot of money to an unlicensed contractor who took it and fled, but she is now on her THIRD unlicensed contractor. Sorry, there is no vaccine for terminal stupidity. (BTW, where are all the woe-is-me articles about the folks along the Mississippi who lost everything in this year's floods?) |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2008-08-26 15:23 |
| #6 Might wanna gas up too, folks... NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil rose on Tuesday as Hurricane Gustav took aim at U.S. oil and natural gas installations in the Gulf of Mexico as it churned through the Caribbean. Weather models showed Gustav either entering the Gulf -- home to a quarter of U.S. oil production and 15 percent of natural gas output -- by early Sunday or veering toward Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. "All of the oil platforms off Texas and Louisiana will probably be at risk, but that's real long-range," Eric Wilhelm, a senior meteorologist at AccuWeather Inc, told Reuters, adding that Gustav could hit the Gulf of Mexico as a Category 3 hurricane. U.S. crude rose 30 cents to $115.41 a barrel by 12:41 p.m. EDT. London Brent crude traded down 7 cents to $113.96 a barrel. ...and it's still early. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2008-08-26 14:45 |
| #5 I'd be very surprised if Jindal doesn't already have the La. National Guard on at least partial alert. That guy is on top of things. |
| Posted by: Jolutch Mussolini7800 2008-08-26 13:46 |
| #4 Any way we can redirect it to Denver by Thursday or Friday? |
| Posted by: Jack is Back! 2008-08-26 13:30 |
| #3 One good thing for Louisiana is that Bobby Jindal is governor, not Kathleen Blanco. I would expect that he will not hesitate to activate the National Guard, and call for federal aid as soon as necessary. |
| Posted by: Rambler in California 2008-08-26 13:17 |
| #2 Yo, Ray. Just in case, a reminder... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2008-08-26 13:02 |
| #1 The forecaste models are already predicting it having 180mph winds by the time it clears the Yucatan channel on Saturday. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2008-08-26 12:20 |