Hey Ike,,,I just checked Floater - Visible Loop,,,
Gus looks like it’s back on that NW track,,,
Still looks like the eye-strike will be on the Louisiana
coast,,,
Maybe as far west as Port Cameron,,,
WalleyWorld looked like the Nut House,,,
Gunna be WET around here...;0)
Hiya, Count...
At the moment, it looks like we (Mobile, AL) will just get a small piece of the action — if any...
Which hasn’t stopped my place of (ugh) employment (think Big Orange Box) from being a panicky madhouse the past couple of days....
Things could get kinda lively for you, though....
Hunker down....
Statement as of 5:00 am EDT on August 30, 2008
Gustav has been rapidly intensifying during the overnight hours.
Satellite images indicate that an eye is becoming visible and deep
convection surrounding the eye is now very intense. The central
pressure is down to 965 mb...a drop of about 24 mb in 24 hours. The
maximum flight level winds reported by the Air Force crew were 100
kt around 6z... corresponding to about 90 kt at the surface.
However the satellite presentation has continued to improve...thus
the initial intensity is increased conservatively to 95 kt.
Objective Dvorak T-numbers are much higher and the next aircraft
pass through Gustav could find a major hurricane.
Further intensification is expected for the next day or so while the
system traverses the extremely warm and deep waters of the
northwestern Caribbean Sea and southern Gulf of Mexico.
However...by 48 hours...almost all of the global models show an
increase in vertical wind shear near Gustav. In addition...since
The Loop current is south of its typical location...the hurricane
will be moving over waters that are not nearly as conducive for
strengthening as they could be. These two factors will hopefully
weaken the storm prior to U.S. Landfall. However...Gustav is
expected to be a large and dangerous hurricane and the NHC forecast
continues to show Gustav as a major hurricane at landfall.
The initial motion estimate is 310/10. A mid-level ridge from the
western Atlantic to northern Florida is expected to continue moving
the hurricane to the northwest for the next couple of days.
Thereafter...a ridge over the Ohio Valley should cause a gradual
leftward Bend in the track as Gustav approaches the northern Gulf
Coast. Most of the guidance is in good agreement on this scenario
except for the UKMET/HWRF...which turn the system just offshore.
These two models are slower and to the left of most of the track
guidance...which allows a ridge to form over Texas to turn the
storm. The official forecast will stay with the majority of the
guidance and is basically an update to the previous package. Gustav
will likely slow down significantly in the longer-term...which
could cause a considerable flooding threat over Louisiana or Texas.
Forecast positions and Max winds
initial 30/0900z 20.2n 81.3w 95 kt
12hr VT 30/1800z 21.2n 82.7w 105 kt
24hr VT 31/0600z 22.9n 84.6w 110 kt
36hr VT 31/1800z 24.6n 86.4w 115 kt
48hr VT 01/0600z 26.5n 88.3w 110 kt
72hr VT 02/0600z 29.5n 91.5w 100 kt...near Louisiana coast
96hr VT 03/0600z 30.5n 93.0w 70 kt...inland
120hr VT 04/0600z 31.0n 94.0w 35 kt...inland
$$
forecaster Blake/Avila