Posted on 08/25/2005 11:51:53 PM PDT by NautiNurse
Katrina is emerging into the very warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico early this morning after making landfall in SE Florida, then tracking SW. Thus far, she is well ahead of schedule, leaving at least four fatalities in her wake, and well over 1 million without electricity.
The following links are self-updating.
Public Advisory Currently published every 3 hours 5A, 8A, 11A, 2P, etc. ET
NHC Discussion Published every six hours 6A, 11A, 6P, 11P
Three Day Forecast Track
Five Day Forecast Track
Navy Storm Track
Katrina Track Forecast Archive Nice loop of each NHC forecast track for both three and five day
Forecast Models
Alternate Hurricane Models via Skeetobite
Buoy Data Florida
Images:
Key West Experimental Radar Subject to delays and outages - and well worth the wait
Tampa Bay Long Range Radar Loop
Storm Floater IR Loop
Storm Floater Still & Loop Options
Color Enhanced IR Loop
Other Resources:
Florida East Coast Surf Reports Lots of great info here, including surf cams
Central Florida Hurricane Center
Hurricane City
Hurricane Katrina Live Thread, Part I
| 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 |
Saw a special on disasters on some cable channel. They said NO is the worst case scenario of all US cities for any storm above a cat 2.
Tomorrow the models will pick a new target city :) heh She continues to move southwest tonight. Appears more SW than anything else.
I'm sure Katrina has some suprises left for us. The next two days will be very fascinating.
Oh my--do you think they want it on the record that Blanco declared a state of emergency Friday? I stopped counting after seeing it three times. The article still says they are at the lowest alert level.
I hope people do not wait too long to try to get out, even with the new routes etc., traffic will be at a crawl. Mayor of NO usually opens the superdome for people who can't leave to stay, but this may not help them this time. So many are without transportation, even phones, and have no way to get out.
That's anybody's guess.
Thanks for the info. You are so good at this!
According to our local paper the death toll was up to 6 in Florida.
http://www.sptimes.com/
They just might. The NGM still shows it headed to TX at 84 hours. Maybe she'll just keep going west. ;-)
In fact, if you stay in Baton Rouge, you might be able to make a little profit. Do you have a spare bedroom or two? An extra sofa? Become an "instant" B&B.
I believe the death toll is now seven in Florida.
Seems like all the projected tracks are zeroing in on NO, yet the storm hasn't even turned north.
So far the models have had to adjust west, then further west.
Reminds me of Ivan last year when it was near Cuba and the Caymans. It kept tracking west even though they thought it would turn.
Looks like a sitting duck for Katrina.
I think the worstof this storm is going to happen to N.O.
this time. Law of averages.
St. Pete Times, wrong again, LOL.
Sheesh--they sure wanted the storms to plow up into Tampa Bay last year...was on the road when they announced the TB Ivan track. People already burned out from Charley & Frances started running off the road, and into other cars. Saw 5 distinct auto accidents in 10 minutes that morning.
Yeah, I was just reading that article about evacuating NO, and there was also a link about evacuating Tampa/St. Pete.
But we did a pretty good job evacuating the county when Charley was headed toward us. Of course, Jeb Bush and the county EOC gave the order the minute the Hurricane Warnings were posted for the area.
I think they gave the evac order on a Thursday at noon, and by Thursday evening, my MIL's entire retirement condo had been evacuated in Greyhound buses to a sister facility in Sarasota.
Of course, the irony of it was that the Sarasota facility got more of a taste of Charley, than their waterfront retirement center on Tampa Bay.
Hopefully Blanko won't be caught up with the birth of a grandchild this time and open all lanes of interstate for evacuation. I'm keeping my eye on this thing. I'm in the Lake Charles area and until it turns north I don't trust it all.
The Queen Bee is a disaster. Like someone earlier posted, a state of emergency was declared for this state when she was elected.
More great images tonight
http://www5.wright-weather.com/bb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=48399&perpage=25&pagenumber=4
Check out that last satellite photo!!!! Truly amazing.
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