[rant]

I swear the weather channel has turn into a fucking joke when it comes to covering tropical systems. For the last three years they have magnified every drop of adrenaline they could muster for every single system that has come our way.

OH NOES HOLY SHIT ITZ COMIN RIGHT FOR US!!!!!11

I watched the first 3 minutes of their program Abrams and Bettes: Beyon the Forecast last night (another abortion of weather coverage- I tried to find the broadcast online to embed but I couldn't)
After the dramatic musical intro, Mrs. Abrams spoke of this "HOT OFF THE PRINTER UPDATE OF HANNA AT EIGHT PM...IT APPEARS THAT......little has changed..."

It was so close to watching an SNL skit that it was sad how comical they appeared.

I sincerely hope folks watching out there will take twc with a few pounds of salt. Maybe we can lick the spray off their all-weather coats from all the super hurricane force winds that have been pounding us.

Bottom line: Tropical Storms are a joke. Winds on coastal areas gust with gale force strength all the time. Bring on Ike.

[/rant]

9/6/2008 7:09:04 AM

Your an idiot. Tropical storms aren't catastrpohic Katrinas but they are still very large and widespread, severe weather events and Hanna is by far the main event right now. If you think tropical storms are a joke look up Allison Frances and Claudette. Those were some devastating tropical storms.

9/6/2008 7:19:12 AM

lolz Where are you from? Have you lived on a coastal area at all in your life? Or are you one of the hurricane experts that spawned after Katrina?

The fact is tropical systems are overblown in the media more than they are on landfall.

When you've lived within 15 minutes of a beach for more than 20 years and experienced 10-15+ tropical systems up close, then you may approach knowing what you're talking about.

Until then, you can continue to flip a coin and be as right as any meteorologist.

I'm going to go into work today...some of the vacationing hypochondriacs need their hands held.

9/6/2008 7:28:55 AM

^This guy is great.

9/6/2008 8:12:23 AM

Quote :

"Until then, you can continue to flip a coin and be as right as any meteorologist."

Well, I take issue with that. He can't and neither can you.

Then again, I'm a bit biased.

9/6/2008 8:58:34 AM

^Too biased to be taken seriously.

That guys post is just shits n giggles. Everyone ignore it.

9/6/2008 9:29:07 AM

Well the basement flooded. It flooded once before - that time it rained 8" in one day about 2 or three years ago - so we prepared this time by getting everything up off the ground.

Probably be spending a good portion of the afternoon sweeping water out.

At least this time we can see exactly where it's coming in.

9/6/2008 10:49:48 AM

Quote :

"When you've lived within 15 minutes of a beach for more than 20 years and experienced 10-15+ tropical systems up close, then you may approach knowing what you're talking about. "

yarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr you have to live near the beach to know ANYTHING about weather systemz!@!!!! i'm such a fuckin BADASS, i piss into the wind during tropical storms.

seriously dude?

Quote :

"Bring on Ike"

seriously? i don't want that shit to come anywhere near here

[Edited on September 6, 2008 at 11:19 AM. Reason : .]

9/6/2008 11:18:05 AM

1. The storm is gone.
2. We're still here.
3. Kiss my ass.

9/6/2008 12:57:33 PM

bring me up-to-date on Ike. im too lazy to even google.

9/7/2008 12:06:59 AM

Ike's looking like a non-event in this neck of teh woods

9/7/2008 12:34:01 AM

^He's gonna ass rape great inagua...then cuba...then the gulf...and somewhere in the us...TX/LA/FL??

9/7/2008 12:34:02 AM

so after it crosses cuba twice what will be left and how slow will it head nw are the million dollar questions.

9/7/2008 12:38:06 AM

Itll regroup in the gulf.


Most storms are overblown now but I cant say that without any preparations the storms would be bad, other than a few trees down the only things messed up in Wilmington are from the tards that didnt take anything down or put it up.

9/7/2008 11:03:49 PM

Those high mtns will definitely rip it up, but like others have said it will restrengthen to hurricane status...who knows how strong though.

9/8/2008 12:29:00 AM

just saw a weather report on nbc and they were showing that map with the numerous path lines

all the lines had ike going to texas

except for one that hauls off and goes straight for new orleans

i laughed good

9/8/2008 6:47:57 PM

those models this far off don't mean a lot. Theres just too many variables to predict more than 3 days accurately.

9/8/2008 6:51:49 PM

it could be 3 days out or 3 weeks out

everyone wants new orleans to get it

9/8/2008 7:09:56 PM

^ do you want new orleans refugees in your neighborhood?

see that boondocks episode and get back to me if you want new orleans to get it

9/8/2008 7:20:32 PM

i swear lounge

you make me carlface so hard sometimes

9/8/2008 7:28:25 PM

lol

9/8/2008 7:29:21 PM

Quote :

"For the last three years they have magnified every drop of adrenaline they could muster for every single system that has come our way."

They bought stock in Exxon.

9/8/2008 8:27:33 PM

This is a perfect example of how far we still have to go in forecasting hurricanes. So now the models have predicted landfall along the entire coast stretching from NC to the TX/Mexico border.

9/8/2008 11:57:00 PM

what model are you lookin at?

9/9/2008 12:02:10 AM

no model ever predicted a nc landfall. no accredited model at least

9/9/2008 12:55:23 AM

Ok some early models had it taking a northward turn and following hanna, hanna hit NC, hence you could infer if the model stretched out that far it would have put it along the SE coast. Either way its still pretty obvious that there is still plenty of work to do on forecasting more than 2-3 days out.

9/9/2008 8:14:51 AM

no one can figure out wtf is going on with this storm. tons of coastal towns have already started evacuating and my grocery store was slammed packed with people tonight and every gas station i passed had a line...

tons of places have already announced closures for friday and on

as far as louisiana, i was just there this week and it was still in bad shape. tons of people are still without power, i had to stay 4 hours away from where i needed to be because i couldn't find a hotel room, everything is booked through october and i had to stop 3 times before i could find a place open for breakfast. mcdonalds had a limited menu, no special requests.

i read an article on cnn saying it might hit as a cat 4... glad i live in north houston and have flood insurance

i should start documenting all my valuables now just in case

9/10/2008 10:45:55 PM

these things are a motherfucker to route around

9/10/2008 10:54:36 PM

Yeah it appears it is intensifying more rapidly than they initially expected, the pressure is dropping pretty fast and the winds will follow course soon enough.

Quote :

"Ike is likely to be a extremely dangerous major hurricane at landfall, and will likely do $10-$30 billion in damage. The chances of hundreds of people being killed in this storm is high if people do not heed evacuation orders. It is possible that Ike will make a direct hit on Galveston as a Category 4 hurricane with 145 mph winds. The potential storm surge from such a hit could be in the 15-25 foot range (Figure 2), which is capable of overwhelming the 17 foot sea wall in Galveston. I put the odds of such an event at about 5%. "

Quote :

" The appearance of Ike on infrared satellite loops is similar to Hurricane Wilma during its rapid intensification phase, when Wilma became the strongest hurricane on record. Like Wilma, Ike has a very tiny "pinhole" eye, but the storm is huge in size. "

9/10/2008 11:18:31 PM

^ hey do you have a link for that?

i happen to know people who are refusing to evacuate because they aren't paying attention and would like to send them that info

9/11/2008 12:01:12 AM

Quote :

"Ike is likely to be a extremely dangerous major hurricane at landfall, and will likely do $10-$30 billion in damage. The chances of hundreds of people being killed in this storm is high if people do not heed evacuation orders."

Haha, wow. Just play that on the news in those areas and you'll see people GTFO real quick.

Insurance companies are probably getting really pissed off right about now. Gonna be a rough year for them, haha.

9/11/2008 12:19:26 AM

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=1079&tstamp=200809

That is where I pulled the quotes from. Houston is looking more and more at risk as the track has shifted north a bit. Id hate to imagine a direct hit on the houston area from a cat 4 storm.

9/11/2008 10:04:16 AM

shit. ALL of my mom's family lives in low-level areas of Houston. hopefully they were smart enough to evacuate, but they are some stubborn folks :/

[Edited on September 11, 2008 at 4:31 PM. Reason : .]

9/11/2008 4:29:33 PM

People who dont evacute are seriously putting their lives at risk at this point. I hope they are paying attention to more than just top wind speeds, this thing is going to have a very large storm surge, the wall in galveston may get topped in fact. This storm right now pressure wise is a cat 3 or 4. Rather than increasing around the center it is instead expanding its windfield which is not typically what happens. This thing is larger than katrina was and when you start talking pure energy is one of the most powerful storms in the last 50 years because of how large it is. There may not be a 10 mile section that gets absolutely raped, but the entire coast is going to take a massive beating. If people dont evacuate that are told to we will be looking at hundreds of deaths by the end of the weekend likely . So I hope people are listening.

9/11/2008 4:52:55 PM

most offices closed around noon today and everything is closed tomorrow. they're talking about opening the highways to contraflow to get people out

my area of the city isn't under evac orders because we're further north and inland but we're supposed to get the dirty side of the storm.

im taking in some evacuees from the coast and hoping for the best. a friend 15min away has a generator and a spare room if im without power for too long

i plan on drinking lots of nyquil and sleeping through most of it

9/11/2008 5:46:06 PM

u doin ok there wolfy??

9/11/2008 6:02:12 PM

drugging yourself and trying to sleep through the most intense part of the storm might not be the best course of action. you might want to be aware of whats going on in case something hits your house (debris from outside, etc.). if the storm's really nasty you might want to be more careful.

9/11/2008 6:20:16 PM

National Weather Service local advisory for Galveston:

Quote :

" Shoreline of Galveston Bay... 15 to 22 feet Life threatening inundation likely! All neighborhoods... and possibly entire coastal communities... will be inundated during the period of peak storm tide. Persons not heeding evacuation orders in single family one or two story homes will face certain death. Many residences of average construction directly on the coast will be destroyed. Widespread and devastating personal property damage is likely elsewhere. Vehicles left behind will likely be swept away. Numerous roads will be swamped... some may be washed away by the water. Entire flood prone coastal communities will be cutoff. Water levels may exceed 9 feet for more than a mile inland. Coastal residents in multi-story facilities risk being cutoff. Conditions will be worsened by battering waves. Such waves will exacerbate property damage... with massive destruction of homes... including those of block construction. Damage from beach erosion could take years to repair. "

http://www.wunderground.com/US/TX/238.html#HWW

9/11/2008 7:02:27 PM

The ghost of 1900 is back.

9/11/2008 7:06:39 PM

looking much more symmetrical tonight. i think i should have gotten gas today.

9/11/2008 11:26:40 PM

^please stop overreacting.

9/12/2008 12:03:42 AM

the farther west the landfall is the less likely its gonna affect gas prices due to damaged rigs

i think most are off the LA coast, and westward to galveston

tried to find a map online, but no luck

9/12/2008 1:42:04 AM

Rigs arent the problem, houston shutting down which produces like 25% of the US gas is though

9/12/2008 7:44:40 AM

why can't this fucker drop an eye correctly

9/12/2008 7:57:45 AM

its a gorgeous fucking day outside right now in houston

crazy to think that by tonight shit is going to be bananas

9/12/2008 10:43:24 AM

It's a good thing that Galveston doesn't have to worry about losing their beaches to erosion from the hurricane.....you know considering they destroyed them all with damned sea walls. . .

9/12/2008 11:17:29 AM

i wish was free today/this weekend to go down and check out the storm!

9/12/2008 11:31:12 AM

gas prices make me

I seriously need to quit my internship. Driving 30 mins to north raleigh and back every day to only work for like 2 hours at a time is sooooo not worth it.

9/12/2008 11:40:29 AM

Quote :

"Hurricane Ike is closing in on Texas, and stands poised to become one of the most damaging hurricanes of all time. Despite Ike's rated Category 2 strength, the hurricane is much larger and more powerful than Category 5 Katrina or Category 5 Rita. The storm surge from Ike could rival Katrina's, inundating a 200-mile stretch of coast from Galveston to Cameron, Louisiana with waters over 15 feet high. This massive storm surge is due to the exceptional size of Ike. According to the latest wind field estimate (Figure 1), the diameter of Ike's tropical storm and hurricane force winds are 550 and 240 miles, respectively. For comparison, Katrina numbers at landfall were 440 and 210 miles, respectively. As I discussed in yesterday's blog entry, a good measure of the storm surge potential is Integrated Kinetic Energy (IKE). Ike continues to grow larger and has intensified slightly since yesterday, and the hurricane's Integrated Kinetic Energy has increased from 134 to 149 Terajoules. This is 30% higher than Katrina's total energy at landfall. All this extra energy has gone into piling up a vast storm surge that will probably be higher than anything in recorded history along the Texas coast. Storm surge heights of 20-25 feet are possible from Galveston northwards to the Louisiana border. The Texas storm surge record is held by Hurricane Carla of 1961. Carla was a Category 4 hurricane with 145 mph winds at landfall, and drove a 10 foot or higher storm surge to a 180-mile stretch of Texas coast. A maximum storm surge of 22 feet was recorded at Port Lavaca, Texas. "

9/12/2008 11:44:57 AM

^^

I have a 68 mile commute to work but I get 65mpg so it's bearable. I'm not going to lie though. I am all for hurricanes and lots of them but this one is landing in a very undesirable location at an inopportune time.

[Edited on September 12, 2008 at 11:47 AM. Reason : .]

9/12/2008 11:47:11 AM