Hurricane Isaac continues to organize as it nears landfall
Isaac gained hurricane status this afternoon after hurricane hunters found winds of 76 mph and a minimum central pressure of 975 mb, and continues to become more organized. In their 5pm EDT update, the National Hurricane Center said Isaac has maximum sustained winds of 80 mph, and is moving northwest at 8 mph--a slow down from yesterday at this time. Satellite loops show that Isaac has gained thunderstorm activity on the southeast side, but is battling dry air to the north. Isaac still appears to be forming an eye wall, though is struggling to do so. Winds have been increasing as Isaac approaches, up to 60 mph has been recorded by buoys close to the shore. Winds off Lake Pontchartrain have varied around 35 mph from the northwest this afternoon. So far New Orleans (KMSY) is seeing wind gusts up to 40 mph, with light rain.
Figure 1. Isaac imagery from the high resolution Terra satellite at 12:30pm EDT, just before becoming a hurricane.
Some rain and thunderstorm activity has reached the northern Gulf Coast this afternoon, with Isaac just over 100 miles southeast of New Orleans. Radar shows thunderstorms from Pensacola to New Orleans. Storm surge has begun to impact the coast, as well, particularly in Mississippi and Louisiana, where reports are that water is "up to cars" in some areas. Many streets are closed in Ocean Springs and Pascagoula, Florida due to surge flooding.
Water levels so far (above mean):
• Shell Beach, LA: 8 feet
• New Canal Station (New Orleans): 2.7 feet
• Bay St. Louis, MS: 5.6 feet
• Pascagoula, MS: 4.4 feet
• Dauphin Island, AL: 3.7 feet
Hurricane Isaac will likely make landfall tonight as a category 1 around midnight CDT, but will still have enough energy and warm water available to maintain hurricane strength for a few hours inland. Isaac will likely continue to strengthen a bit before landfall, but given the large wind field, rapid intensification is unlikely. The storm surge threat could then continue along the Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama coasts through mid-afternoon on Wednesday, as winds will continue to blow from the east, and then from south, as the storm moves northwest past New Orleans. Should the peak surge coincide with peak tide, the highest storm surge, anywhere from 6 to 12 feet, is expected in Louisiana and Mississippi. Alabama could see a storm surge around 4 to 8 feet.
Figure 2. Rainfall forecast from the HPC through Sunday morning. The lime green bullseye over Gulfport, MS is a value of 15+ inches.
The Hydrometeorological Prediction Center is forecasting around 15 inches of rain to fall around Gulfport, Mississippi, and up to 12 inches of rain to fall near New Orleans, Louisiana by Sunday morning. As Isaac tracks north after landfall, it will bring some much-needed rain to the drought-stricken Mississippi Valley region, particularly west of the Mississippi River. While anywhere from 3-5 inches of rain is expected from Arkansas to Indiana by Sunday, and the Arkansas, Missouri, and Illinois drought will benefit, this is not a drought buster. The driest parts of the country are in the Central Plains states, and this rain will be too little to have a meaningful impact.
Monitor Hurricane Isaac online:
Track, forecast, and current observations
Radar and weather stations
Satellite
Webcams
Angela
Reader Comments
Page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 — Blog Index
No reason why not. Certainly not that I have seen.
It's one thing to get all excited over a radar image and the theoretical potential devistation it might cause if this or that... but that's the internet / weather-geek world rather that the real one. I don't mean that disrespectfully, I am here along with the rest of you all, but regular non-geeks are not like us.
They look outside, see that it is drizzling with a five mph breeze, and they go on with their lives. Perhaps they paid attention to the hype and hysteria briefly, but they quickly decided that they were being played for fools yet again and they changed the channel.
The reality is this. All the theoretical disaster scenarios aside, this is barely a hurricane. And from what it is ACTUALLY doing to most of the places directly under its skirts, it's not even that. It's calm with occassional bands of soothing rain-- a gentle giant.
That could all change, and some people have certainly suffered damage, but so far the real devistation is to the reputations of the experts who hyped it as a Katrina rerun.
Wasn't Plaquemines Parish under mandatory evac?
You don't have to actually leave, it's just if you need rescued they may not be able to help you as the conditions might be too dangerous for the rescuers. You stand a much higher chance of death in that situation.
Link
Right, but the article made it sound like LOTS of people were calling in about water. I assumed that if they were under mandatory evac that there wouldn't still be LOTS of people there.
The Fire Chief said about 30 people stayed. He called them "Old Dogs". One assumes they being Old it's not the first cane they have rode through.
Data from station is reporting that the water level has risen 2.5 feet and still climbing.
You look at google map it doesn't look like it would take much to flood that area.
Google Map
yeah. i always expect the old dogs to stay. i guess the word "droves" is what threw me a little
There is a new blog entry that why it's dead here.
I need to stop drinking!
Viewing: 1751 - 1764
Page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 — Blog Index