Hurricane Ike Live Thread

NOAA/NHC ^ | 7 September 2008 | NOAA/NHC

[NautiNurse]

Hurricane Ike is the fifth tropical cyclone of the 2008 hurricane season to threaten U.S. Gulf Coast states.

Reports from Turks & Caicos Islands describe 80 per cent of homes damaged or destroyed. On Sunday, Hurricane Ike's position just north of Hispanola was hampering relief efforts for devastation incurred by Hurricane Gustav and Tropical Storm Fay. The death toll in Haiti from Gustav reached 200 people.

Florida Governor Charlie Crist held a press conference Sunday morning shortly after a Hurricane Watch was issued for the Florida Keys.

Public Advisory Updated every 3 hours

Discussion Updated every 6 hours

Buoy data:

Florida & Eastern Gulf of Mexico

Western Gulf of Mexico

West Caribbean

Forecast Models

South FL Radar Loop
FL Keys Radar Loop
Cuba Radar Warning: site gets overloaded
FL Long Range Radar Image

Ike
Single Image		Image Loop
Lat/Lon	No Lat/Lon	Short	Long
Visible	Visible	Visible	Visible
Shortwave	Shortwave	Shortwave	Shortwave
Water Vapor	Water Vapor	Water Vapor	Water Vapor
Infrared Channel 4 Enhancements
None	None	None	None
AVN	AVN	AVN	AVN
Dvorak	Dvorak	Dvorak	Dvorak
JSL	JSL	JSL	JSL
RGB	RGB	RGB	RGB
Funktop	Funktop	Funktop	Funktop
Rainbow	Rainbow	Rainbow	Rainbow

Additional Resources:

Navy Tropical Cyclone
Storm Pulse Very cool site--scroll down for Ike

KeyNews.com Key West News
Miami Herald
NOLA.com
KPLC-tv Lake Charles News
WEAR-tv Pensacola FL
TBO.com Tampa Bay Online
KHOU Houston
WKRG-tv Mobile-Pensacola

Category	Wind Speed	Barometric Pressure	Storm Surge	Damage Potential
Tropical Depression	< 39 mph < 34 kts			Minimal
Tropical Storm	39 - 73 mph 34 - 63 kts			Minimal
Hurricane 1 (Weak)	74 - 95 mph 64 - 82 kts	28.94" or more 980.02 mb or more	4.0' - 5.0' 1.2 m - 1.5 m	Minimal damage to vegetation
Hurricane 2 (Moderate)	96 - 110 mph 83 - 95 kts	28.50" - 28.93" 965.12 mb - 979.68 mb	6.0' - 8.0' 1.8 m - 2.4 m	Moderate damage to houses
Hurricane 3 (Strong)	111 - 130 mph 96 - 112 kts	27.91" - 28.49" 945.14 mb - 964.78 mb	9.0' - 12.0' 2.7 m - 3.7 m	Extensive damage to small buildings
Hurricane 4 (Very strong)	131 - 155 mph 113 - 135 kts	27.17" - 27.90" 920.08 mb - 944.80 mb	13.0' - 18.0' 3.9 m - 5.5 m	Extreme structural damage
Hurricane 5 (Devastating)	Greater than 155 mph Greater than 135 kts	Less than 27.17" Less than 920.08 mb	Greater than 18.0' Greater than 5.5m	Catastrophic building failures possible

[NautiNurse]

With a hurricane wind field of 160 miles, and tropical storm windfield over 400 miles, it might be a very good idea to tuck away potential missiles laying around in the yard.

Good luck with your storm prep.

[WestCoastGal]

8 mph.

The local news said that the slower it goes the more intensity and the further east it will head. Galveston and the area near there should be watching very closely.

[Lakeshark]

I was lucky to have found out about her a couple of months before the pick. I instantly liked who she was, what she believed in, and what she has accomplished. I remember talking to some friends about a week before the VP pick, saying she would be a great pick, but that McCain would never choose someone like that, rather he would make a safe pick, dull and moderate.

I have to say, along with Mrs L, that McCain picking her turned us from marginally voting against the big Zero, to supporting the McCain-Palin ticket to win.

She brings a fresh and very conservative face to the R party, one that gives us conservatives a future. I hope she does well, and maintains her principles.

[girlscout]

A friend who works there told me they were to get their timesheets up to date and that they were getting ready to send everyone home.

[john316]

Going down to Rosenberg to take care of mom’s house today..I plan on leaving clear lake area NLT 15Z on Thursday. My timesheet is done and posted Time Away Days for the rest of the week.

[lainie]

already up to 100 mph. That didn’t take long. :/

[girlscout]

I knew I should have taken a government job way back when. Stay safe!

[jpsb]

That is one scary picture!

[NautiNurse]

The local news said that the slower it goes the more intensity and the further east it will head.

We were discussing these points last night shortly after Ike exited Cuba.

[wolfcreek]

To top that, some of the models put the Austin area east of the center....the worst side.

Baton down the hatches and get to making the cocktails.

[Frank_Discussion]

I’ll be waiting then... Thanks for the info.

[MamaB]

When power went out during a tornado, my late hubby hooked a tv up to the boat battery. Don't have any idea how he did that but it worked. I think I should learn how since he died from liver cancer in 2006.

[Jaded]

Dang. I’m in downtown Houston. Just playing the waiting game.

[AFPhys]

Man - under two weeks ago, I was giving kudos to the models for how well they had been able to get Gustav. This storm is nothing like that. They have been all over, and are through today.

GFDL is devastating, for sure. It has had a couple squirrelly runs the last week, though, so I wouldn’t get excited.

I have to say that right now, none of these have me convinced. Nor does the NHC track into the s.central coast of Texas. Something I’ve noted over the last several days, though: there does seem to be a kind of “inflection point” at about 26N - approximately the latitude of the S.tip of TX - I believe that when Ike finally crosses that latitude, the direction will suddenly firm up in these models. That’s two days from now with most models, one in some others.

[AFPhys]

If I could edit, I would add to that last post that GFDL has performed just about the best, though.

UKMET also did very well the last 5 days, and other models have come into line with it during the last two days... but now we’ll see.

[devolve]

.

Good luck potlatch -

[OB1kNOb]

[Ditter]

The computer models have turned a little more to the north now. one of them goes right into the mouth of Galveston Bay. I am getting concerned.

[Orange1998]

Same here but North Houston. I will have to make a decision soon.

[Katlyn]

I agree, but they don’t seem to be responding.

Our School District has posted there will be classes tomorrow and we are 1/2 mile from the water.

It is getting scary...IMO.

Prayers for all wherever it decides to come.