Unfavorable winds set to push Gulf of Mexico oil spill into Louisiana
Work crews burned off oil on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico just 20 miles southeast of the Louisiana coast yesterday, in an effort to keep as much oil as possible from moving shoreward and fouling the beaches of the Gulf Coast. Relatively good weather, with moderate southeast winds of 10 - 15 knots, aided the efforts, and work crews were also able to use skimmers and dispersants to remove and thin the oil spill from the April 20 explosion and sinking of the offshore oil rig Deepwater Horizon. For now, it appears that the fires are not large enough to generate air pollution capable of causing health problems for those living downwind, according to the latest graphics from NOAA's Hazard Mapping System Fire and Smoke Product.
Oil continues to gush from the well head at 5,000 feet depth at a rate five times what was previously estimated--210,000 gallons per day. This is equivalent to about 2% of the total spilled oil from the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska entering the Gulf of Mexico each day. If 210,000 gallons per day has been leaking since the disaster began on April 20, over 2 million gallons of oil has already been spewed into the Gulf, about 18% of the 11,000,000 gallons spilled in America's previous worst oil spill, the Exxon Valdez disaster. With the winds expected to begin blowing the oil spill on shore this weekend, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill appears destined to become one of the most disastrous oil spills in U.S. history.
Figure 1. The oil spill on April 25, 2010, as seen by the MODIS instrument on NASA's Aqua spacecraft. Sun glint on the water at this hour happened to be just at the right angle to light up the spill dramatically. Image credit: NASA.
Figure 2. The oil spill on April 27, 2010, as seen by the MODIS instrument on NASA's Aqua spacecraft. The sun angle was not as favorable during this overpass to see the oil spill. The ability to detect oil slicks in photo-like satellite images is very sensitive to the viewing geometry--the angles between the surface, the Sun, and the satellite--at the time of the image. If the slick happens to be located in the sun glint part of the image, it may be very visible, but if not, it can be faint or even impossible to see.
The winds turn unfriendly
The winds have been relatively kind in the week since the Deepwater Horizon explosion, with offshore winds occurring frequently enough to keep the oil spill at least 20 miles from land. However, beginning today (Thursday), NOAA predicts that on-shore winds out of the southeast will increase to 15 - 20 knots, and strengthen to 20 - 25 knots tonight through Saturday night. These winds should be able to push the oil slick close to or on the coast by this weekend, along the Louisiana's Mississippi River "bird's foot" visible in the satellite images above. The winds will weaken to 10 - 20 knots on Sunday through Monday, but remain on-shore. It is not until Tuesday that offshore winds are expected, when a strong cold front should move into the Gulf of Mexico. These offshore winds will last for two days, then high pressure is expected to build in, bringing relatively light winds that should cause little transport of the oil spill for the final portion of next week. My guess is that the winds will not be able to push the oil all the way to the Florida Panhandle coast over the next ten days, but coastal areas from eastern Louisiana to Alabama will be at risk of getting oil.
Oil a long-range threat to southwest and southeast Florida, Cuba, and the Bahamas
The surface ocean currents that transport the oil are driven by the wind and by the large scale ocean current structure of the Gulf of Mexico. The latest surface ocean current forecast (Figure 3) from NOAA's RTOFS model indicates a complicated current structure along the Gulf Coast over the next seven days, making it difficult to predict exactly where the oil slick might go. The warm Loop Current enters the Gulf from the south and loops around to the southeast to exit through the Florida Keys. A counter-clockwise rotating cool eddy is located a few hundred miles south of the Florida Panhandle, and a clockwise-rotating warm eddy is located south of Louisiana's Mississippi Delta. If next Tuesday's cold front brings strong enough northwesterly winds to the oil spill region, it is possible that a portion of the spill will get caught in the circulation of these two eddies and sucked southwards into the Loop Current. If this occurs, the oil would be move relatively rapidly at 2 - 4 mph to the southeast and then eastwards through the Keys, potentially fouling beaches in the Keys, northwest Cuba, the southwest and southeast coasts of Florida, and the western Bahamas. Based on the movement of the spill earlier this week during offshore winds, I don't think the spill will be able to make it into the Loop Current next week. However, if the oil keeps spewing from the ocean floor for many months, eventually a wind pattern will set up that will take the oil into the Loop Current. This would most likely happen if a persistent trough of low pressure settles over the East Coast in May, or if a tropical storm makes landfall along the Florida Panhandle this summer. We're fortunate that there are no hurricanes to worry about right now, as the strong winds and storm surge of a hurricane would be able to drive the oil far inland along a wide swath of coast.
Figure 3. Surface ocean current forecast for 8pm Thursday from NOAA's RTOFS model. Forecast was made at 8 pm EDT on Tuesday, April 27, 2010.
Commentary
Oil and coal are essential to modern society, and we need to continue extracting and transporting these fossil fuels to sustain our economy. However, we also need to be aware that the price we pay at the pump for gasoline does not include such expenses as the environmental damage from oil spills, nor the pollution from burning fossil fuels. Any debate about the costs of moving to more expensive but cleaner forms of energy needs to be honest about the tremendous costs due to environmental destruction and pollution that the mining and transport of fossil fuels cause--not to mention the death toll from oil drilling operations, oil refinery accidents, crashes of oil tanker trucks, and wars fought over oil.
Figure 4. Fire boat response crews battle the blazing remnants of the offshore oil rig Deepwater Horizon, April 21, 2010. Note the list of the platform. Image credit: USCG.
Next post
I'll have an update Friday or Saturday. Keep an eye on the severe weather threat in the Plains today and over the Mississippi Valley on Friday. Our severe weather expert, Dr. Rob Carver, is following the action.
Jeff Masters
Reader Comments
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Bro that is a beauty....i have no idea where you come up with this pics the way you do.....but, you gotta be the best i know. Great work as always!
LOL... Ossqss every ship should have those suits.
But wouldn't there have to be a spark on top. Guess the collision of metal could cause that spark tho. I don't know. But, someone should have addressed some reason by now one would think. Could it have been an attack????
Gotta love how some try to match States vs. States in times like this. BeachFox your Correct.......ALL Should be very Concerned about this all the way up the East Coast.
This is a GULF COAST Disaster, not one state.
And rightly so. Before when they thought it would be confined to a small area, it was manageable. Now, when your talking the entire Gulf coast east of LA around the Key's and SE Fla, it's a MUCH bigger problem. Not because of who is impacted but, the scope and size of the cleanup. It takes a relatively small disaster to a disaster of epic proportions.
Bro it's a joke. I put a joke about something political and i get banned....General Patten and others abuse this blog all the time and its ok as long as your on the LIBERAL Left that this blog does not mind. Its just the obvious truth.
Scientists Study Makeup of Oil-Eating Bacteria
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Oil-eating bacteria make light work of heavy fuel
I've been thinking about this, too. They often use water in drilling operations to pump out more oil, and then use equipment that separates oil and water. Why couldn't we put one of these devices on a small ship and send it out to do cleanup... or at least profit from someone else's disaster?
Similar technology might even work for the plastic vortex in the Pacific. Of course, I don't know enough about the technology to know if that would work.
OH i Know i was agreeing with you! But, some are trying to say that if this was Florida being impacted then some type of special attention would be given.....THAT IS A JOKE! Maybe just Maybe Florida is better prepared to handle Hurricanes then some Gulf Coast States but, those are the other States fault and their Leaders for not being prepared as well. But, This thing is a Whole new ball game.
There are measures in place for things like this when happens......what has failed. Why could they not shut the flow off as i understand at different levels a shut off valve is in place. Does this mean the problem occured at or below ground level under the Sea?
A sub-sea BOP stack has come a long way from the "Christmas Tree".
Exactly! Its very important to keep all beaches clean to keep the mind clean and to relax. Many will understand that if they have no place to go and relax by the oceans. I love to fish and have a great boat with my brother.....we have been talking about this from day 1. Wow are we getting pi_sed!
Thank You.
Until they get it capped it's impossible to tell how big this disaster will be, it grows by the second. And knowing that the problem at hand is 5000ft down leaves a knot in my stomach as your options are very limited.
Not a chance. The heat from burning oil will be tiny compared to how much heat the sun provides every day. Water has a high heat capacity, and the amount of oil there is tiny compared to the amount of water.
Problem is,..when the Blowout happened and the Pressure shot upward,..it exploded on the Drill Deck and well,...11 lives were lost instantly.
The BOP failed to close the hole with the secure action valve and well..
Man and steel got trumped by the odds.
Rarely does a failsafe BOP fail..but the Blowout was massive at depth,and well..thats how mother nature rolls.
And everyone loses.
Thats cus the regulations arent stringent enough within the industry.
And thats not a new problem,..thats a very old problem.
Amen! I hear you brother. It is an undeniable fact that we should be putting as much money, resources and effort into converting everything we can to an alternative and clean energy source. The time is right and we could use the money we spend on stupid crap to do this. That's another discussion though!
What is the rain outlook for SW FL from the tropical moisture coming from the Yucatan?
LOL... too much.
Oh, BP couldn't afford $5million, lol
i read that they could try and drill another well to tap into the leaking one to cap it, which could take months. scary stuff, too much time is going to go by.
Moron?
That can't be as one would think the industry would be regulated far better than that. I was talking to an engineer school buddy of mine that worked on those rigs and he said there are valves at many levels. So i can't beleive that is accurate by the media. Pat just put a pic graph that shows the many shut off points so something had to happen very deep.
There required by section something law, sounds like there stirring up trouble.
Considering that just one (Exxon) pulls in multi billion dollar profits EACH QUARTER, one would think they'd have enough money and resources to have corked this thing on Day 1 not to mention what you're talking about.
Mike Brown isn't in there anymore. I think he went back to horse training so calm down man.
I would imagine the entire industry is pulling together to resolve this problem as its in all's best interest not to let this become a bigger disater than it already is. I'm sure Exxon is helping BP and if they are not, shame on them!
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That is messed up......LOL! I need a clothes Pin to hold my nose too.......LOL
Not correct.
They did not install an acoustically activated shut off as an extra safeguard to shut in the well. Most rigs in the North Sea have them. Not required here. The oil companies made the case that there was not much evidence to support the reliabilty of this type of device. They prevailed.
(or in press's case a piece of furniture)
i know you are but what i am i.
calling people names and insulting them on their opinions leads no where except for more insults.
Seems to be a very small area where they are burning the oil (red circle).
One would think that it would be in there best interest to get this resolved. I know if i was the CEO of another what i would be doing.
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