Hurricane Nicholas

NHC/NOAA ^ | 12 September 2021 | NHC/NOAA

[NautiNurse]

Tropical Storm Nicholas has formed in the SW Gulf of Mexico

Mash the graphics below to enlarge. All links and images are self-updating.

GOES Satellite

NHC Public Advisories

NHC Discussions

Tropical Tidbits by Levi Cowan

KHOU.com Houston Local
FOX4 Beaumont Beaumont/Port Arthur Local
KPLC.com Lake Charles Local

[NautiNurse]

Mash image to enlarge

[NautiNurse]

[NautiNurse]

[NautiNurse]

Nicholas will be parked over Louisiana through Thursday. Major flooding anticipated.

[NautiNurse]

Nicholas Moving Slowly Toward the Houston Metro Area...

700 AM CT Update
-------------------------------
About 15 MI SSW of Houston TX
About 90 MI WSW of Beaumont TX
Max Sustained Winds...60 MPH
Moving...NNE at 8 MPH
Minimum Pressure...999 MB

Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 125 miles from the center.

[Alas Babylon!]

Well, there goes another week of dark and silent gas refineries...

[NautiNurse]

Top off your tanks. Don’t forget your generator fuel supply.

[central_va]

Climate change or something or other.....

[TXnMA]

8:30 AM CST: Eye at 29.43° N, 95.40° W (just west of Houston). Max wind ~40mph. Eye well over land & ppears to be moving slightly inland. Over-land track should diminish strength... Major onshore wind flow (max storm surge) now just east of (past) Galveston Bay [TX] to just past Sabine Pass [in LA]. Beaumont, Port Arthur, Orange [TX] petrochem plants under max stress now.

Beautiful, animated wind flow imagery of Nicholas... Click on any point to get pinpoint wind velocity. (Eye now ~1 mph.)

I'm 300 miles inland (north)-- still no rain, but would like to get a couple of inches. or so...

TXnMA

[Alas Babylon!]

Thanks!

A word of advice on generators, especially what to do with them when you aren’t using them...

The biggest problem with gasoline powered generators is fuel sitting in the tank and going bad—and it WILL—and ruining the carburetor. I’m ashamed to say I’ve done this to 3 generators over the past 25 years.

I just got a duel-fuel generator, propane and gasoline, and I highly recommend y’all do, too.

Propane doesn’t go bad like gasoline. I mean, it will eventually, but not within several years. So my new regimen is to keep the generator on propane for quick starting, but switch over to gasoline if the outage is going to be longer than a day or so. Propane is not as efficient as gasoline, so using gasoline will you give you a higher wattage.

When the outage is over, I empty the gasoline tank and then let it engine consume all the gas and stop. That way I have no residue fuel go bad in the bowl or lines. THEN start it on propane and then turn it off. Check and replenish any engine oil, and then I’m done! Store and ready for next emergency.

I always keep a full gas tank in my regularly driven vehicles, so at least I have 30 gallons of fresh gas on hand if needed.

[smokingfrog]

The center of the storm is about 20 miles due south of me right now, so there is hardly any wind at all. Rainfall in the last 12 hours has only been an inch or two.

[NautiNurse]

Great advice! Question--how do you empty the gas tank in your generator?

We got a dual fuel generator last year. Current plan is to only use propane.

[NautiNurse]

Nicholas Moving Very Slowly...High Risk of Flash Flooding...

1000 AM CT Update
-------------------------------
About 10 MI SE of Houston TX
About 85 MI WSW of Port Arthur TX
Max Sustained Winds...45 MPH
Moving...NE at 6 MPH
Minimum Pressure...1002 MB

Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 140 miles from the center.

[Alas Babylon!]

I bought this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00QSPU0NS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have a lot of gasoline fueled stuff: 4 tractors (2 lawn, 2 garden) several chain saws, tillers, weed wackers, augers, chipper/shredders, generators, etc.

It was well worth the money.

I pull the gas out of everything unless I use it within a week.

[Texas resident]

I have two 3,000 watt Honda’s. When I shut them down, I shut off the fuel valve and let them starve out. I also keep fuel stabilizer in the tank. And I run them once a month to keep the seals lubricated. They start first pull every time.

[NautiNurse]

Excellent info—thank you! I’ll buy it for a Christmas gift...hehe...

[NautiNurse]

Louisiana rainfall a la Nicholas

[smokingfrog]

Use a fuel transfer pump to remove as much gasoline from the tank as you can. Buy some ethanol free gas, add about a 1/2 pint or so along with some Star Tron enzyme fuel stabilizer & then run the generator until it runs out of fuel.

[NautiNurse]

Thanks!

[blam]

Over Half A Million Texans Without Power As Nicholas Threatens Louisiana With Flooding