Afternoon, everyone.
Jeffrey, looks like you'll get some heavy rain and gale force winds for the nest few hours but things are looking much better. The eyewall collapsed just before coming onshore and there is a mass of very dry air that is now getting caught up in Gustav's' circulation. It appears that Gustav will maintain its forward motion until it get to at least far northern Louisiana so that should lessen the flood risk. Believe it or not, it looks like Shreveport may get more rain and have more flooding problems than your area. I'm glad you're in a safe place since tornados are probably the greatest risk for the next 8 hours or so.
So far, the levees in New Orleans are holding but the news people may be declaring victory a little early. From the film I've seen, there's considerable overtopping of the levees happening and the maximum storm surge is just now reaching New Orleans. The overtopping is not a problem but is hows a tremendous amount of pressure being placed on the bottom, or toe, of the levee. The failure usually comes from failure at the toe leading to a collapse of the levee wall. I'm hoping they all hold but I'll be surprised if some don't fail. Luckily for New Orleans, Gustav came ashore just to the west of the delta, which lessened the storm surge coming into New Orleans by about 4 feet. Thankfully, with the grace of God and about 4,000 police, national guard, and army troops, this will not turn out to be another Katrina.
CJ,
CONGATULATIONS.
These days, making it to 35 years is quite an accomplishment.
Ray, I love Barney. He has the greatest grumpy old man look I've ever seen. Happy birthday to him.
Chip, things are looking very good for Mississippi. As the eyewall collapsed, it really contracted the hurricane wind field and I've only seen one report of a 74 mph gust in Gulfport. That 40 mile jog to the west made all the difference, thank goodness. I think they are out of danger by now.
Paul sounds like great weather and a great feast. save me some of those ribs.
Phillip, those houseboats are pretty plush now. We rented a catamaran in the Caribbean that had similar space and amenities. Quite a change for a 36 foot mono hull sailboat. Sure wish my retirement plans to live aboard a cat down there for a few years would have worked out.
Steve, I hate to make Polish jokes but a Fiat trackmobile? I'm sure it was one that manufactured in Russia when they had a Fiat license. They were barely able to keep the running on a street, much less a railroad track. I'd sure hate to be in one of things when it stalled in the face of an oncoming train.
We've just had some wind here, which is all pressure differential wind. We had one outer rainband of Gustave last night bit no rain. Since then. We've started to move into subsidence situation, where the return air coming from Gustav is coming in at 20,000 feet and then dropping like a rock over us. That leads to low humidity, hot temperatures, and no rain. That's why it's 90 degrees with 44% humidity right now. I was hoping for some rain but that seems unlikely now. OTOH, compared to a direct southerly hit on Mobile, I'll take. Just to add to next week's fun, Hanna has just been upgraded to a hurricane and looks like she will be a threat to the Bahamas and the Carolinas about this time next week. There are more lined up out there so it should be an exciting month!
