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
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)
It's $2.82/gal right now. Yesterday afternoon around 3:00PM wholesale prices were $2.74/gal, up around $0.08 from opening price.
fyi—DirecTV has dedicated Channel 363 to hurricane info.
For sure....even we storm watchers out in California will be up early tomorrow FReepin' and watchin'...
Whorealdo is praying he gets the story of the storm when he spots a family of "illegals" sitting on a roof top waiting to be rescued.
He'll breathlessly report these poor people were afraid to go to shelters because they feared being deported.
End of Whorealdo rant.
sw
Crude prices are still dropping. WTI will probably drop to under $100.00/bbl today. Dated Brent is currently at $95.50/bbl.
http://www.maroonspoon.com/wx/ike.html
for anyone interested that link has 4 different tv stations out of Houston.
Prayers for all that will be affected by this storm.
VirginiaMom
Just saw a report from Surfside ~ it is now flooding.
I cannot believe that there are still people still on the islands. Hopefully after they see the news they will get the hell out.
They also showed a reporter in Surfside City (?). with the mayor of that little town, showing the huge waves already in the Gulf, and the water already in the streets.
Hunkering down here in NW Houston; hopefully all Texans along the coast have evacuated.
Prayers up for our Texas FReeper families and all their neighbors. You were there for us when Florida was a storm’s target, now we are here for you.
Interesting the disconnect between crude and gasoline the last few days. Traders probably expect refinery outages in the Houston area to be significant.
My thoughts and prayers are with the good people of Texas. May God have mercy.
live feeds-Texas, apologies if already posted.
If the surge reaches 15ft, for example, everything colored green, blue or yellow will be inundated.
Waves and Tide are NOT taken into account with this... their effects must be added.
Valid question.
Based on that buoy report, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Ike officially made a Cat 3 in the 10AM report.
This station has been good.
http://www.khou.com/video/?nvid=178826&live=yes&noad=yes
Make sure you have a second battery for your laptop charged up?
NEW YORK (AP) — Gasoline prices jumped to unprecedented levels in the wholesale markets today as Hurricane Ike tore across the Gulf of Mexico, threatening to strike Texas and its refineries.
The wholesale price of gasoline ranged from $4 to nearly $5 a gallon at the U.S. Gulf Coast today, said Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst of the Oil Price Information Service in Wall, N.J. That is up significantly from about $3 to $3.30 a gallon on Wednesday, Kloza said.
“We’re looking at the highest wholesale prices ever for a huge swath of the country,” he said. “People understand that regardless what happens with Ike, it’s going to shut down the biggest refining cluster for a period of five, six, seven days.”
The wholesale price of gasoline is what refineries charge retailers. Retailers then mark up those prices for the customer so they can make a profit — so if these wholesale prices hold, it could mean that pump prices for U.S. drivers easily break through the July 17 record of $4.114 a gallon.
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