Levee system graphics
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Posted on 08/28/2005 8:10:23 PM PDT by NautiNurse
Extremely dangerous Hurricane Katrina is bearing down on the North Central Gulf of Mexico and New Orleans metro area. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin conceded that as many as 100,000 inner-city residents didn't have the means to leave and an untold number of tourists were stranded by the closing of the airport. At this hour, people are still filing into the Superdome after security screening for weapons and contraband. National Guard have brought in 360,000 MRE (meals ready to eat) to feed the estimated 30,000 storm refugees in the Superdome.
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
Bouy Data Louisiana/Mississippi
Buoy Data Florida
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 Katrina Live Thread, Part VI
Hurricane Katrina Live Thread, Part V
Hurricane Katrina, Live Thread, Part IV
Hurricane Katrina Live Thread, Part III
Katrina Live Thread, Part II
Hurricane Katrina Live Thread, Part I
Tropical Storm 12
Hurricane Wind Risk Very informative tables showing inland wind potential by hurricane strength and forward motion
Central Florida Hurricane Center
New Orleans Web Cams Loads of web cam sites here. The sites have been very slow due to high traffic
New Orleans Music Online Couldn't resist--love that jazz
Golden Triangle Weather Page Nice Beaumont weather site with lots of tracks and graphics
Hurricane City
Crown Weather Tropical Website Offers a variety of storm info, with some nice track graphics
Live streaming:
Fully-linked version of the live feeds (just in case a few people don't want to first open up WMP to cut-and-paste) -
WWL-TV/DT New Orleans (WMP) - mms://beloint.wm.llnwd.net/beloint_wwltv
WVTM-TV/DT Birmingham (WMP) - mms://a1256.l1289835255.c12898.g.lm.akamaistream.net/D/
1256/12898/v0001/reflector:35255
WDSU-TV/DT New Orleans (WMP) - http://mfile.akamai.com/12912/live/reflector:38202.asx
Hurricane City (Real Player) - http://hurricanecity.com/live.ram
ABCNews Now (Real Player) - http://reallive.stream.aol.com/ramgen/redundant/abc/now_hi.rm
WKRG-TV/DT
Mobile (WMP) - mms://wmbcast.mgeneral.speedera.net/wmbcast
.mgeneral/wmbcast_mgeneral_aug262005_1435_95518 WDSU-TV/DT New Orleans via WESH-TV/DT Orlando - http://mfile.akamai.com/12912/live/reflector:38843.asx
| 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 |
...Extremely dangerous category four Hurricane Katrina moving northward toward southeastern Louisiana and the northern Gulf Coast... ...Tropical storm-force winds lashing the Gulf Coast from southeastern Louisiana to the Alabama-Florida border...
A Hurricane Warning is in effect for the north central Gulf Coast from Morgan City Louisiana eastward to the Alabama/Florida border...including the city of New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain. Preparations to protect life and property should be completed this evening.
A Tropical Storm Warning and a Hurricane Watch are in effect from east of the Alabama/Florida border to Destin Florida...and from west of Morgan City to Intracoastal City Louisiana.
A Tropical Storm Warning is also in effect from Destin Florida eastward to Indian Pass Florida...and from Intracoastal City Louisiana westward to Cameron Louisiana.
For storm information specific to your area...including possible inland watches and warnings...please monitor products issued by your local weather office.
At 4 am CDT...0900z...the center of Hurricane Katrina was located near latitude 28.8 north... longitude 89.6 west or about 90 miles south-southeast of New Orleans Louisiana and about 120 miles south-southwest of Biloxi Mississippi.
Katrina is moving toward the north near 15 mph... and this motion is forecast to continue today. A gradual turn toward the north-northeast at a slightly faster forward speed is expected later tonight and on Tuesday. On the forecast track...Katrina will move onshore the southeastern Louisiana coast just east of Grand Isle this morning... and reach the Louisiana-Mississippi border area this afternoon. Conditions will continue to steadily deteriorate over central and southeastern Louisiana...southern Mississippi...and southern Alabama throughout the day.
Maximum sustained winds are near 150 mph...240 km/hr...with higher gusts. Katrina is a strong category four hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Some fluctuations in strength are likely prior to landfall...but Katrina is expected to make landfall as a category four hurricane. Winds affecting the upper floors of high-rise buildings will be significantly stronger than those near ground level.
Katrina remains a very large hurricane. Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 105 miles from the center...and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 230 miles. Recently...a sustained wind of 53 mph with gust to 91 mph was reported at Grand Isle Louisiana ...And a wind gust to 71 mph was reported in New Orleans.
The minimum central pressure recently reported by an Air Force Reserve unit reconnaissance aircraft was 915 mb...27.02 inches.
Coastal storm surge flooding of 18 to 22 feet above normal tide levels...locally as high as 28 feet...along with large and dangerous battering waves...can be expected near and to the east of where the center makes landfall. Some levees in the greater New Orleans area could be overtopped. Significant storm surge flooding will occur elsewhere along the central and northeastern Gulf of Mexico coast. NOAA buoy 42040 located about 50 miles east of the mouth of the Mississippi River recently reported waves heights of at least 46 feet.
Rainfall totals of 5 to 10 inches...with isolated maximum amounts of 15 inches...are possible along the path of Katrina across the Gulf Coast and the Tennessee Valley. Rainfall totals of 4 to 8 inches are possible across the Ohio Valley into the eastern Great Lakes region Tuesday and Wednesday.
The tornado threat ahead of Katrina continues to increase and scattered tornadoes will be possible today over southeastern Louisiana... southern Mississippi...southern Alabama...and over the Florida Panhandle.
Repeating the 4 am CDT position...28.8 N... 89.6 W. Movement toward...north near 15 mph. Maximum sustained winds...150 mph. Minimum central pressure... 915 mb.
Intermediate advisories will be issued by the National Hurricane Center at 6 am CDT and 8 am CDT followed by the next complete advisory at 10 am CDT.
Forecaster Stewart
Gad! Bogey... You are right in the path just east of NO and due north of Lake Pontchartrain. Hope you are safe!
rain and wind, but nothing major yet.
Good Morning!
Prayers for all In Katrina's path!
The links provided are great!
Still trying to understand levees. Not that I am unfamiliar with water having lived by the Atlantic Ocean and Chesapeake Bay all my life.
But there's no levees anywhere near here. And I always wondered because of that song. Oh, and never been to New Orleans and sigh, I guess I'll never get there now.
They didn't, at the point where NO was founded. It's been sinking into the swamp via subsidence since 1910
New Orleans was originally built on a high, dry spot at the mouth of the Mississippi, serving as an interchange point between river traffic and ocean traffic. It grew and needed to expand, so they built levies. In 1910 they added pumps. As the pumps pumped out groundwater, NO started to sink, requiring more levies and pumping
I read they plan to shut down the power grid - maybe at daylight?
"but what I don't understand is why some people don't get off and use state highways to circumvent the slow moving traffic."
Those that know the "back roads" do use them to get out during evacuations. But in most cases these are merely two lane highways and they, too, move at a snails pace. I think it is simply the huge number of people on the roads. You get breakdowns, fender benders, etc. that tie up traffic and it's downhill from there. I heard a caller on the radio today complaining because two cars had a minor fenderbender and they remained in the middle of the highway blocking 2 lanes of traffic while they exchanged insurance information.
That's my simple two cents. Perhaps there's some on this thread who may have a more informed answer.
I kinda hope you got out of NO when you were told to.
The 0323 and 0400 plots are showing a significant hook to the east, with the 0400 plot 7.5 miles east of the blue arrow on the last map I posted.
I'll be offline for the next couple hours. Hang tough.
No idea.. perhaps that's why the street lights and such are out on St. Charles? Seems they would turn them all off if that were the case though, and the lights are all still on in another part of the quarter.
I don't live in NO. Baton Rouge.
I would add that, relatively speaking, there aren't a whole lot of secondary roads running through the swamps, compared with other regions of the country.
Where can I see the St. Charles cam?
thank you for the update
Thank you.
I struggle to grasp just how awful it must be, because I'm one of those who would strike out on gravel roads traveling in the general direction of my destination rather than deal with gridlock.
I appreciate the time and effort you took with your explaination.
Watching the parade cam ... looks like arcing transformers flashing in the background.
uh oh--what is that graphic that doesn't want to load?
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