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.
Made it back. Wet in CC and multiple tornado sightings. Mostly on the bayfront, but also one near Tuloso Midway school.
Travel is not advised due to blinding rain and areas of standing water on the highway/freeways (DUH). Oh, and some wind here and there with the incoming bands. ;)
Landfall at So. Padre Island TX
Hope you still have electricity. Looks like Dolly made landfall in a more remote section of SPI.
I believe the storm should track more west/nw than northwest here because of the ridge to the north.
However, keep in mind I only have taken an intro to meteorology class; not an expert.
Glad to know you made it back safely. Shortly after you posted, we heard about the tornado warnings in Corpus Christi.
Just a couple of minutes ago I mentioned to my son that I couldn’t believe our lights were still on and of course they went off. We are back on now though.
I never saw any of them and the first I heard was when i entered the office bldg. Supposed to go up to the 4th floor, but the secretary caught me and said everyone was either on one or in the basement.
Finally got what I went for when they went back up to shut everything down. LOL
Statement as of 12:00 PM CDT on July 23, 2008
...Dolly hesitates...eyewall of Dolly crossing South Padre Island...
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 1200 PM CDT...1700z...the eye of Hurricane Dolly was located
near latitude 26.2 north...longitude 97.0 west or about 35 miles...
60 km...northeast of Brownsville Texas.
Dolly has been meandering for the past hour or so but it should
begin to move toward the west-northwest near 7 mph...11 km/hr soon.
On the forecast track...the eye of Hurricane Dolly will be crossing
the coast along the southern Texas coast in a couple of hours.
Persons are advised not to venture outdoors during the relative
calm of the eye because winds will soon increase quite rapidly.
Maximum sustained winds remain near 100 mph...160 km/hr...with
higher gusts. Dolly is a category two hurricane on the
Saffir-Simpson scale. Stronger winds...especially in gusts...are
likely on high rise buildings. No significant change in strength
is expected before landfall with a gradual weakening thereafter.
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. Port Isabel Airport just measured 58 mph...92 km/hr
sustained winds with gusts to 70 mph...113 km/hr.
Minimum central pressure reported by an Air Force reconnaissance
plane was is 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. 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 1200 PM CDT position...26.2 N...97.0 W. Movement
toward...west-northwest near 7 mph. Maximum sustained winds...100
mph. Minimum central pressure...967 mb.
An intermediate advisory will be issued by the National Hurricane
Center at 200 PM CDT followed by the next complete advisory at 400
PM CDT.
$$
Forecaster Avila
Got all your batteries charged?
Good. Maybe the guys at WU can calm down now. They are about to have a cyber free for all.
Yeah.
Good.
Looks like the tornadoes followed me home. Think I’ll go to lunch.
Yep, obviously we have moonbats around that don’t know what is going on.
Had a trucking company call earlier to schedule a jobsite delivery for tomorrow. Idiots.
This is awesome that you have maintained electricity so this point!
The southern eyewall looks like it’s going to graze Port Isabel, live streaming on http://foxnews-stream4.wm.llnwd.net/foxnews_stream4 from a car on South Padre Island, should be in the eye if the radar image is giving the right location.
Last hurricane hunter plane pass put estimated surface winds in the high 50’s on the ground along the eyewall, I had hoped they’d drop a sensor, but it’ll take a few minutes for that to register and the report to come back if they did. If you get a piece of the eye, it’ll be short lived, but it looks like you’re on the ‘clean’ side, but not going to get a break for quite a few hours.
SOUTH PADRE ISLAND - Hurricane Dolly’s high winds blew the roofs off of the Palmetto Inn and Bahia Mar, according to witnesses on the Island.
There are no reports of injuries, but people should be aware of flying debris.
Stay tuned for further updates.
http://www.valleymorningstar.com/news/bahia_31264___article.html/palmetto_inn.html
Good to see you are still online, Cindy.
Winds began picking up about half an hour ago here.
Still very little rain, although it is a constant light rain. Our predominant winds have been and still are from the NW.
Our lights have flickered a few times, but we still have power and, surprisingly, Dish TV is still working fine.
NN, thanks for all the pings and keeping us well informed.
Many thanks to all the FReepers providing information.
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