Hurricane Ida is on the move to the North at 12 MPH as it heads for the Gulf of Mexico. Current maximum sustained winds are 90 MPH.
Projected landfall has Ida in the Western Panhandle of Florida stretching to the Mississippi/Louisiana border between 6 p. m. CST Tuesday to 6 p. m. Wednesday. (see map)
Hurricane Ida has formed off the East Coast of Nicaragua. This storm, a category I, has sustained winds of 75 mph.
A hurricane watch is in effect for the Eastern coast of Nicaragua from North of Puerto Cabezas to the Honduras/Nicaragua border.
Above map shows 5-day forecast showing a weakening storm.
Hurricane Bill is hundreds of miles off the Atlantic coast but forecasters warn the storm is expected to cause dangerous waves and rip tides on Long Island beaches by Friday. New York state parks officials advise swimming only in lifeguard protected areas designated by green flags
Hurricane Bill has become a Category 4 storm that is predicted not to hit the US, however, Ocean swells will be felt along the East coast of the US in the next four days.
Remnants of TD Ana is producing rain, heavy at times, in South Florida.
From CNN:
Hurricane categories to drop storm surges, flooding
The National Hurricane Center is no longer including storm surges and flooding in its hurricane categories out of concern that people aren't heeding proper warnings, because the surges haven't always matched the levels predicted in each category.
When Hurricane Ike slammed into the Texas coast last year with Category 2 winds (96-110 mph), it had a storm surge of 15 to 20 feet. That's a level more in line with the scale's description of a Category 5 storm, which has winds greater than 155 mph. A Category 2 hurricane, the Saffir-Simpson scale said, was likely to bring a storm surge of only 6 to 8 feet.
Ike was the third most destructive storm ever to make landfall in the United States. It was responsible for at least nine deaths, eight of which were in Texas.
000
WTNT62 KNHC 300609
TCUAT2
HURRICANE GUSTAV TROPICAL CYCLONE UPDATE
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL072008
210 AM EDT SAT AUG 30 2008
DATA FROM AN AIR FORCE RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT INDICATE THAT GUSTAV CONTINUES TO STRENGTHEN AND NOW HAS MAXIMUM WINDS NEAR 100 MPH...155 KM/HR WITH HIGHER GUSTS. THIS MAKES GUSTAV A CATEGORY TWO HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON HURRICANE SCALE.
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FORECASTER BLAKE/AVILA
Went to Publix tonight and stocked up. Haven't looked at the update for Hanna yet.
For those who don't know me, I usually go grocery store shopping about every 6 weeks, so I went early. Last time I went shopping was about 4 weeks ago.
This picture scares me!
Hurricane Gustav in the gulf and TD 8 (if named, will be Hanna) in the Atlantic, affecting the US at the same time.
Hurricane Gustav is a Category 1 hurricane with wind speeds sustained at 90 mph. While the East Coast of South Florida (SoFL) is currently out of the cone, the eastern edge of the cone scrapes the western SoFL coastline and the lower Keys, including Marathon and Key West, are well inside.
Once inside the Gulf of Mexico, I guess it is, for now, a mystery. I personally have a bad feeling about this storm!
The NHC is also keeping a watchful eye on three other storms; one has low (less than 20%) chance of forming a Tropical Depression (TD); the other two have a medium (20-50%) chance of forming a TD.
Looks like the National Hurricane Center is keeping a watchful eye on two systems (see map on right).
1. A TROPICAL WAVE OVER THE WINDWARD ISLANDS IS PRODUCING A LARGE BUT DISORGANIZED AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS...AND SURFACE OBSERVATIONS SUGGEST THAT A BROAD SURFACE CIRCULATION COULD BE FORMING. ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS APPEAR CONDUCIVE FOR SOME SLOW DEVELOPMENT OF THIS SYSTEM DURING THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS AS IT MOVES GENERALLY WESTWARD AT 10 TO 15 MPH OVER THE EASTERN CARIBBEAN SEA. THIS WAVE WILL CONTINUE TO PRODUCE SQUALLY WEATHER OVER PORTIONS OF THE WINDWARD AND SOUTHERN LEEWARD ISLANDS TONIGHT AND SUNDAY.
2. SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY ASSOCIATED WITH A TROPICAL WAVE LOCATED ABOUT 800 MILES EAST-NORTHEAST OF THE LEEWARD ISLANDS HAS DECREASED THIS EVENING. UPPER-LEVEL WINDS ARE FORECAST TO GRADUALLY BECOME LESS CONDUCIVE...BUT SOME SLOW DEVELOPMENT OF THIS DISTURBANCE IS STILL POSSIBLE DURING THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS AS IT MOVES WEST-NORTHWESTWARD OR NORTHWESTWARD AT ABOUT 15 MPH.
I got the last minute things done this morning. Took the stool and wheelbarrow off of the patio and into the shed. After the garbage was picked up, I put the garbage bins and recycle bin into the "cage" in front of my front door and closed all of the accordion shutters. I also shuttered Squeaky's door.
I then made a quick run to Publix and got cat food and bread. I'm all ready.
I am a bit disturbed by the fact that today was the beginning of our monthly commingled garbage pick-up that continues through the week. People have mattresses, old chairs, furniture and appliance sitting on their swales or alleys. If the winds increase, these items will be very dangerous. I'm glad I closed the shutters for this very reason.
