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Posted on 08/26/2005 10:25:04 PM PDT by NautiNurse
Hurricane Katrina continues to strengthen in the Gulf of Mexico. Currently, the forecast models are converging upon New Orleans. However, all interests in the northern Gulf of Mexico should follow the path of this storm, and be prepared for a major hurricane landfall. Throughout Friday, the official track forecasts moved west, as Hurricane Katrina delayed making the anticipated northwest turn.
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
Bouy Data Louisiana/Mississippi
Images:
New Orleans/Baton Rouge Experimental Radar Subject to delays and outages - and well worth the wait
Ft. Polk, LA Long Range Radar Loop
Northwest Florida Long Range Radar
Storm Floater IR Loop
Storm Floater Still & Loop Options
Color Enhanced IR Loop
Other Resources:
Hurricane Wind Risk Very informative tables showing inland wind potential by hurricane strength and forward motion
Central Florida Hurricane Center
Hurricane City
Crown Weather Tropical Website Offers a variety of storm info, with some nice track graphics
Live streaming:
WFOR-TV Miami: http://dayport.wm.llnwd.net/dayport_0025_live
WWL-TV New Orleans: mms://beloint.wm.llnwd.net/beloint_wwltv
HurricaneCity.com: http://hurricanecity.com/live.ram
WTSP-TV Tampa: mms://wmbcast.gannett.speedera.net/wmbcast.gannett/wmbcast_gannett_jan032005_0856_78183
WKRG-TV Mobile mms://wmbcast.mgeneral.speedera.net/wmbcast.mgeneral/wmbcast_mgeneral_jul072005_1144_93320
Katrina Live Thread, Part II
Hurricane Katrina Live Thread, Part I
Tropical Storm 12
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 |
sw
I spent two full days with a chain saw cleaning up the limbs in my back yard. By "limbs" I mean "huge trunks of trees big enough to be trees all by themselves."
The one blessing is that I never lost power for more than 10 minutes. That would have been a nightmare.
sw
once it is picked up by the atmosphere, the slowing down should come to an end.
Saturday, August 27, 2005
Hurricane watch issued as evacuation begins
Nagin calls for voluntary evacuation : 'This is not a test'
As evacuations - mandatory and voluntary - began in parts of the greater New Orleans area Saturday morning, the National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane watch from Morgan City to the Pearl River, including metro New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain.
Across the area, residents were holding their breath under the cloud of an ominous projection that shows the path of Hurricane Katrina crossing directly over the metro area. Katrina is currently a major Category 3 hurricane, and is expected to continue strengthening, perhaps even reaching Category 5 before landfall.
"This is not a test," New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said at a midday news conference. Later in the afternoon, he called for voluntary evacuation, and said the Superdome could be pressed into use as a shelter of last resort for people who do not have cars.
Louisiana and Mississippi were making all lanes northbound on Interstates 55 and 59 beginning Saturday afternoon for evacuees.
Plaqumines Parish President Benny Rousselle has issued a Phase I mandatory evacuation for all of Plaquemines Parish.
St. Bernard Parish has issued a "recommended" evacuation for its residents while St. Charles Parish, like Plaquemines has called for a mandatory pullout.
Officials in low-lying parishes told people to leave. Some shops shut down so workers could go home, pack up and board up houses. Overloaded cell phone bands gave spurious busy signals or out-of-contact messages. A cruise ship moved its departure up an hour.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is not a test. This is the real deal," Mayor C. Ray Nagin said at a news conference. "I don't want to panic you, but I want to make sure you understand there's a major hurricane in Gulf of Mexico and most of the meteoroligists are predicting it will hit somewhare around New Orleans.
"Board up your homes, make sure you have enough medicine, make sure the car has enough gas. Do all things you normally do for a hurricane but treat this one differently because it is pointed towards New Orleans."
He said he would probably ask people to leave Saturday afternoon or at daybreak Sunday. "We want to coordinate with the state ... to make sure you have as many evacuation routes as possible," he said.
Because the storm is so big, Nagin said, the Superdome may be used as a shelter of last resort for people who have no cars, with city bus pick-up points around New Orleans.
The latest forecast track for Hurricane Katrina has the strengthening storm crossing lower Plaquemines, then north on a line directly across the New Orleans metro area.
The storm has intensified and is now a Category 3, with sustained winds of 115 mph and higher gusts. Some major models have it strengthening to a Category 4, or even Category 5 by landfall Monday evening. It is moving to the west near 7 mph and is approximately 430 miles southeast on the mouth of the Mississippi River. A gradual turn to the west-northwest is expected during the next 24 hours.
Gov. Kathleen Blanco declared a state of emergency late Friday, making it easier to implement emergency procedures, including evacuations, if necessary.
Katrina, the 11th named storm of a busy season, was upgraded to Category 3 as it moved deeper into the Gulf of Mexico, after crossing Florida yesterday. Homes were flooded, fallen trees blocked roads and utility crews scrambled to restore power to more than 1 million homes and businesses Friday as South Floridians coped with Hurricane Katrina's messy aftermath.
Seven deaths were blamed on the storm as it crossed Florida. Much of the seven hours Katrina spent over land Thursday was over the moist Florida Everglades, allowing for only slight weakening.
"We were looking at it going up the East Coast two days ago and now it's looking like it will hit the central Gulf Coast," said Larry Ingargiola, director of the St. Bernard Parish Emergency Preparedness. "Like we always say, the only one who knows where a storm will go is the man upstairs."
More worrisome was that experts with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration warned that the hurricane's track could move even further west, Ingargiola said.
"We just hope our people are prepared," he said. "It's kind of late in the year to be making disaster plans."
http://www.nola.com
Ah, and Headline News is busy bashing FOX news.
I don't know much about this school teacher governor but it seems she could be complicit in making this a larger catastrophe than it would otherwise be if there is a direct hit.
Navy Website so click Yes when it asks. Warmest waters in the Gulf of Mexico lay between Katrina and Louisiana.
Just watch, there will be plenty of people who decide to ride it out and party, party, party!
sw
If Katrina comes into NO as a cat 4 or higher, they'll have to use houseboats in the Superdome, cause it will be filled with water up to the second level.
That XTRP model doesn't really do much, does it? =P
This makes me wish John Hope was still alive. His Weather Channel coverage of hurricanes was legendary. Supposedly Camille was named after his daughter or vice versa.
http://www.nola.com/bridgecam/index.ssf
Bridge cam
http://www.nola.com/fqcam/index.ssf
French Quarter cam
http://www.nola.com/bourbocam/classic/index.ssf?video
Bourbon Street cam
http://www.nola.com/rivercam/index.ssf
River cam
sorry if already posted
"The one blessing is that I never lost power for more than 10 minutes. That would have been a nightmare."
Lucky you! The longest we've gone was 5 days. Five days of August/Sept. Louisiana heat! You couldn't escape it, you even couldn't sleep at night it was so hot. Oh, and I forgot to mention the mosquitoes! And last but not least, add kids who are having withdrawals from air conditioning and Nintendo - I was about ready to kill myself! (That's not true, I was really thinking about killing the kids - figuratively speaking of course).
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