Posted on 09/12/2008 5:12:09 AM PDT by NautiNurse
Large and dangerous Hurricane Ike approaching the Upper Texas coast. Mandatory evacuations began in earnest Thursday as an estimated one million coastal residents headed inland. There were widespread reports of gas stations running out of fuel.
The National Weather Service posted dire storm surge predictions of 20-25 ft storm surge along the coast and bay heads. Hurricane warnings covered a 400 mile swath of the Gulf of Mexico.
Wholesale gasoline prices spiked 30 percent Thursday, or nearly $1 a gallon, out of fear of what Ike might do.
Public Advisory Updated every 3 hours
Discussion Updated every 6 hours
Buoy data: Western Gulf of Mexico
Houston/Galveston Long Range Radar
Corpus Christi Long Range Radar
Brownsville Long Range Radar
Lake Charles Long Range Radar
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Additional Resources:
Navy Tropical Cyclone
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KHOU Houston
ABC 13 News Houston
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Brazoria County Emergency Management
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| 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 |
Previous Threads:
Hurricane Ike Live Thread II
Hurricane Ike Live Thread I
TS Hanna, Hurricane Ike & TS Josephine [Other than that, the tropics are calm]
Tropical Storms Hanna, Ike and Josephine, TD Gustav (Other than that, the tropics are calm)
Please keep graphics to ~50kb, no animated graphics.
When making comments, please remember there are FReepers with family and property in harm's way.
Winds 105 mph, 956 mb, moving WNW at 13 mph.
New thread.
On/Off Hurricane List Mash Here--> 
Morning everyone.
less than 24 hours til landfall
ugh
Morning, NN.
The graphic’s too big to post here, but I saw one over on easternuswx.com that was modeling of potential wave/surge heights based on the current track estimate. The west end of Galveston Island got 12 feet, the east end got 17 feet. The head of the bay got 21 feet (halfway to Houston!) and the Port Arthur area got 24-25 feet. Ike is not the windiest hurricane ever, and people may be getting complacent in hearing “oh, it’s ‘only’ a cat 2”, but this thing is moving an IMMENSE amount of water around in the Gulf, and it is going to bury the shorelines in NE Texas and SW Louisiana.
There’s an oil rig out in the Gulf in Ike’s path reporting 99 knot winds, but that may be slightly exaggerated because the anemometer is at about 400’ off the water.
}:-)4
Let’s keep our Houston Freepers in our prayers. They are a true bunch of patriots and I wish them the best. Especially my best pal Humidston.
Any one watching FoxNews? They have Heraldo on a beach in Galveston! Didn’t they say something about “certain death” for people who stayed in Galveston. Do they really want to get rid of him that badly?
Praying for my brothers and sisters in Texas.
Here’s the link to the weather station on the Garden Banks oil rig out in the Gulf. The winds will be exaggerated because it’s 122 meters (~400 feet) up in the air, but still. It also might provide an indication of what could happen if this thing tracks the highest winds right into downtown Houston.
Latest observation, 108.8 knots (125.12 mph), pressure 28.61”.
http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=42361
Local news is showing waves crashing over the seawall in Galveston and there is some minor flooding in the area.
mark
That's simply not true. There was NOT a 30% spike in wholesale unleaded pricing. As of 8:30 AM today wholesale pricing is $2.81/gal...that's up $0.15/gal from yesterday opening price.
We can hope...
...sorry. It slipped. I don’t really mean it. But yes, Geraldo is a complete idiot for being there. Yes, Galveston has a 17-foot seawall that’s held off everything that’s hit it so far, but Ike has an exceptionally nasty storm surge for its wind speed, and the forecast tracks have the storm coming very close to Galveston Island one way or the other.
}:-)4
I grabbed it from the news reports. Thanks for providing today’s prices.
Can you keep me updated on the weather in your area? I am concerned about the trailer at DCS.
Is your bunch staying put?
Will do. It’s doing nothing at the moment, leaves aren’t even rustling.
The inevitable calm before the storm. :)
BTW, the site is VERY slow right now, but this page has several different webcams around Galveston, and they were working up to a few minutes ago.
http://www.galveston.com/webcams
}:-)4
We are staying put. Our concern here is just wind.
Hi, NN. the pest is here again. The graphic shows Tropical Storm Ike in Oklahoma abd Arkansas in less than 48 hours. Shouldn’t they be added to the topics?
Over the years, a lot of sand has piled up against the seawall, effectively raising the ocean floor. This is going to give the storm surge a leg up over the wall.
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