[blam]

"Is this not the case? Is there a pool of cooler water right before landfall? "

I saw a map yesterday that showed a temperature of 85 degrees at the coast and that temperature goes way out into the GOM. The hurricane, at that time, was in 90 degree waters, way out in the GOM.

[My Favorite Headache]

Temps along the Texas coast are between 85.7 and 87.6 degrees. Enough to hold a CAT 4.