Wake Island evacuates as super typhoon bears down

Honolulu Statr Bulletin ^ | 8/29/06 | Gregg K. Kakesako

[conservative in nyc]

kingu posted this IR photo of Ioke on the Ernesto thread. Wake Island is the black dot 2 squares right and 2 squares down from the upper left corner:


As of the last update, the storm was 130nm from Wake Island, and moving in its general direction. It looks like Wake will take a direct hit.

[conservative in nyc]

FYI - the URL auto updates, so the current track (0000Zulu on 8/31, which I think is 8PM Eastern today) is in Post 18.

kingu got Wake Island reported speed readings from somewhere (I don't know where, since there has been no NWS METAR update at Wake Airport (PWAK) since 8/28): 43 knot winds with 55 knot gusts. Was that from estimated or buoy data?

[burzum]

At least Wake is above sea level

You might have to revise that in a couple of hours. It'll be interesting to see what is left of Wake island after being hit by the eye of a Cat 4 or Cat 5 hurricane. It'll also be interesting to see how long these instruments last.

[HAL9000]

High-resolution Infrared image 0203Z

I'm getting a headache just looking at the eyewall on this thing.

I found some choppy animation of the storm. Judging from the last few frames, it looks like the eye will pass over Wake Island.

[Howlin]

Holy crap.

Talk about a perfect eye.

[conservative in nyc]

Yeah, a hurricane's definitely coming to Wake. Tropical-storm force winds are already there. The barometric pressure 100nm away from the center of the storm is already lower than Ernesto's center - and rapidly dropping.

[STARWISE]

OMG ~~!

[HAL9000]

NOAA Storm Tide ALERT Automation System- Wake Island Station

[conservative in nyc]

It's still working (but updating about a half hour after the real time). Last reported sustained winds were at 61.81 kts, with gusts to 77.75 kts at 5:30GMT, which should be 1:30AM Eastern. Barometric pressure is down to 971.30mb. 61.81 kts is about 70 mph - almost hurricane-strength winds, with hurricane-strength gusts.

[HAL9000]

This should take care of the rodent problem on the island.

[HAL9000]

More info - Wake Island Station Information

[kingu]

05:42Z
62.98 kph wind
80.09 kph gusts
77.90 air temp
83.84 water temp
970.20 mbars pressure

Still surprised the NOAA station on the island is still reporting, it really goes to show you how well they thought out their communication system. Still waiting for a new vapor image to come down from the Navy, don't expect one before midnight, though.

[conservative in nyc]

Rodents are like roaches - they seem to survive everything.

The Wake NOAA station recorded a 98.6 MPH wind gust as of the last reading about half an hour ago, and 72 MPH sustained winds - less than 2 MPH short of hurricane strength. Pressure is down to 968.80mb - and still falling fast.

Given the trend, Typhoon Ioke has arrived likely on Wake by now.

[kingu]

This shot just came down the pipe - same perspective as the last one, black dot is Wake Island, and it's not at the heart of the storm yet.

The little weather station that could. Still on the clean side of the storm, and it looks like the eye is going to brush past, probably the worst case for the island.

[HAL9000]

I read that the first use of Wake Island was a cable station in 1899. Perhaps the cable will survive. But it's difficult to imagine that rickety old weather shack will last much longer, or the generators.

[conservative in nyc]

That rickety old weather shack took a 100.6 MPH wind gust at 6:12GMT. Sustained winds are within 1MPH of hurricane strength. Pressure down to 965.60mb.

That shack was built in the 50s - it's probably built more solidly than anything we build today. It won't be much of a match for 50-foot waves, though.

[Libertarian4Bush]

wow. is it possible this will destroy the island entirely?

[kingu]

Who knows - amazing what survives a hurricane. The weather station just reported a gust over 100mph. I'm not sure what the station's rated for, but I expect it to top out soon. 965.60 mbars pressure.

[conservative in nyc]

78 MPH sustained winds as of the 6:18 Zulu reading. Pressure at 964.30mb. The typhoon has arrived at Wake Island.

[kingu]

More than one mbar drop in less than six minutes, that's just 'wow' time. I'm loving this - get to see mega power without thinking about people losing their homes. (just tax dollars...)