[RegulatorCountry]

"Anything to get the storm to weaken."

People keep commenting on how huge the eye is, when in actuality, a large eye is indicative of weakening. It's the tight eyewalls that are the really bad ones, counterintuitive though that may seem.

The wildcard here is that New Orleans is so subject to widespread flooding that will remain long after the storm is gone. Beyond that obviously problematic difference, I really think the town will fare OK, just as many a city in FL has, just as Charleston, SC did, and will be back to a semblance of normality in a year's time, just as the aforementioned were.

People just love a good scary story, and there's a lot of that going on, here, and particularly with the news media, who stand to gain ratings by exaggerating the threat, IMHO.

[MikefromOhio]

People keep commenting on how huge the eye is, when in actuality, a large eye is indicative of weakening.

Well I wish it would get it on then. It just doesn't seem to be happening.

[commish]

You would be correct most times. However Katrina's eye has been at approx 40 Miles across ever since it formed.

At this point it is not the size that matters (hehe), when you look at the IR notice the deep reds and purples that completely encircle the perfectly circular eye, and look at the visible images that show what looks like a perfectly round stadium (think the Vet in Philly) right smack dab in the center.

That is what is known as an annular Hurricane. A 1 MB move is not indicative of weakening, we can hope and pray it continues to go up, but the reality is Katrina is Steady State now - she will come in at 900-905 MB and 165-180 MPH.

[Petronski]

a large eye is indicative of weakening.

Not quite.

An eye that grows larger is an indication of weakening. An eye that is stably large is a different creature altogether.

[rwfromkansas]

With huge hurricanes like this, ones that appear they may be annular in nature...huge eyes do NOT denote weakening at all.

[Wthrman13]

That's not entirely true: hurricanes can have a wide range of eye diameters for the same intensity. What is indicative of weakening is either a widening of an existing eye, or the replacement of the existing eye with a larger one (Eyewall replacement cycle). Conversely, a contracting eye usually means intensification. It's not the eye's diameter necessarily, but how the eye is evolving that really matters.

[mtbopfuyn]

People just love a good scary story, and there's a lot of that going on, here, and particularly with the news media, who stand to gain ratings by exaggerating the threat, IMHO.

Totally agree.

[Howlin]

People just love a good scary story, and there's a lot of that going on, here

I'm gonna ping you tomorrow night so you can eat those words.