Hurricane Ike Live Thread III

NOAA/NHC ^ | 12 September 2008 | NOAA/NHC

[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

Forecast Models

Houston/Galveston Long Range Radar
Corpus Christi Long Range Radar
Brownsville Long Range Radar
Lake Charles Long Range Radar

Ike
Single Image		Image Loop
Lat/Lon	No Lat/Lon	Short	Long
Visible	Visible	Visible	Visible
Shortwave	Shortwave	Shortwave	Shortwave
Water Vapor	Water Vapor	Water Vapor	Water Vapor
Infrared Channel 4 Enhancements
None	None	None	None
AVN	AVN	AVN	AVN
Dvorak	Dvorak	Dvorak	Dvorak
JSL	JSL	JSL	JSL
RGB	RGB	RGB	RGB
Funktop	Funktop	Funktop	Funktop
Rainbow	Rainbow	Rainbow	Rainbow

Additional Resources:

Navy Tropical Cyclone
Storm Pulse Very cool site

KHOU Houston
ABC 13 News Houston
FOX News Houston

KPLC Lake Charles
KFDM 6 Beaumont/Port Arthur
KKBMT 12 Beaumont
KRIS-TV Corpus Christi
KZTV Corpus Christi

Brazoria County Emergency Management
Galveston County Emergency Management
Chambers Country Emergency Management
Liberty County Emergency Management

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)

[SomeCallMeTim]

Rita was nothing here, not a single thing.

Red Top, When I said you'd be OK if Rita didn't hurt you...I thought you were in Orange. In Deer Park, you are going to see 1000 times WORSE than Rita.

I suspect you'll be OK. In your place, I'd probably stay as well. But, I couldn't say this with certainty. This storm is like no other I've ever seen.

I expect surges at least as bad as Carla, maybe worse... and, Carla hit 150 miles south of where you are. Not, right over your head.

You're gambling with your life there. Good luck.

[texasredtop]

We’ve moved up from a little breeze to a brisk breeze with mostly cloudy skies.

[metmom]

Water is incompressible. It’s easy enough to swim through, it is true, but a wall of water with the weight and force behind it that this storm has, will pulverize about any thing in it’s path.

[dfwgator]

I’m just curious as to how the kinetic energy of Ike compares to the kinetic energy released by the Banda Aceh earthquake that resulted in the terrible tsunami.

[CitizenM]

This is history that will be spoken of a century from now.

And that song "Galveston" along with it. Has anyone posted a link to that? I don't have it, or know how to do it, or even if it is legal anymore. It would be nice to play now.

This storm went over Cuba...how much of that is left, anyone know?

[Red_Devil 232]

I am afraid there will not be an address left to even try to locate you. FReeper Friends say Please GO now!

[Xenalyte]

You too! How’s things look in your neighborhood?

[texasredtop]

I wasn’t aware someone thought I was being picked on :-)

I’ll be there in November, with bells on.

[af_vet_rr]

Here's the real problem. Forget the wind - it is the AREA of this thing - water is getting sucked UP by this thing in a huge area. I think this will hit as a Cat.2 - no difference, though - the problem with this is NOT wind - it is the Area&Pressure over that area.

Yeah, Masters has been talking about people not understanding that the wind is not as important, that it's the energy, and this thing is more powerful than Katrina is energy-wise, which is what is driving the storm surge.

[dirtboy]

Port Bolivar is just NE of Galveston Island - it is the Eastern barrier island across Galveston Bay, and the main channel entrance into the bay separates them. A ferry connects the two. It’s pretty telling that it is already getting cut off.

[DollyCali]

Live Link/stream

[nwctwx]

Flight level winds up to 115kt now..... storm seems to be getting stronger.

[NautiNurse]

LOL! I knew you would get that link posted one of these times. Good info source. I’m still trying to open scripts on that page.

[pax_et_bonum]

texasredtop, you were on the clean side of Rita.

I’ve lived in the Baytown area for almost fifty years and I evacuated yesterday, happily.

Rita is no comparison to this.

[dirtboy]

we’re watching the potential for flooding.

Read post 418. This will not be normal Cat 2 surge, just as Katrina's surge was not that of a Cat 3.

[CitizenM]

I don't think anyone will ever say this phrase again:

[pax_et_bonum]

Thanks!

Here’s Houston’s Channel 13 live stream:

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/feature?section=news/local&id=6102015

[nwctwx]

Unfortunately a lot of people will die because they aren’t paying enough attention to the surge statements.

[OBXWanderer]

Where is Bolivar?

Im sure you have already seen post 430, also pronounced "BALL LIVER" by the locals. Not the typical spanish BOL E VAR.

[patton]

Got it - the 16.7 on the map in 410.

Thanks.