ATL: IKE Discussion

[fasterdisaster]

By this look it looks that there is still a double eyewall, or at least to bands within the one eyewall.

No there aren't, it's a result of the eye wrapping around so there is a dry slot where part of that huge eye once was.

[KWT]

Storm surge generally develops more rapidly immediately before a storm's eye moves ashore, but with Ike's size the surge will likely be more gradual. The peak surge will likely occur late tonight and early Saturday with the occurence of high tides.

- Jay

Yep Jay right now the low tide is holding back the surge somewhat, though I think it won't be long before the surge starts to increase again and the tidal measures go up even if we at low tide. Once we are on the upward slope towards high tide, then things will happen at a very rapid pace.

[Viper54r]

33 miles of movement in a little over two hours. It hasn't stopped.

I thought the mets are always preaching that when you have a huge eye(60 miles) that recon fixes can be deceiving when trying to calculate movement?

[Houstonia]

Southwest Houston reporting in... we've had NO RAIN. It's just now starting to get dark and the wind has really begun to pick up. It's HOT AND HUMID outside... mostly humid.

It LOOKS like a cold front, but it FEELS like a hot wet summer.

Still have power and am hoping hoping hoping that by some freak chance - we keep our power.

With all of this waiting around I understand what the 1900'ers went through.. and I understand the people down in Galveston who didn't leave. In the 25 years since Alicia, I've forgotten about all the WAITING there is... just waiting for the storm to come in... I keep thinking.. .maybe it won't be as bad as everyone keeps saying...

No one on my street has boarded up their house. Some people didn't even bother taking down hanging plants, etc. But - I went outside a couple of hours ago, and you could hear hammering and chain saws... I guess people decided at the last minute to make minimal preparations.

We don't have any boards up at our house - but I rent the house two doors down from my parents so if there is any problems, we will change houses.

Big worry is Jeff Master's quote: We can expect Ike to cause the largest and longest-lived power outage in Texas history, with power knocked out along a 200-mile wide swath in eastern Texas and extreme western Louisiana extending 300 miles inland to I-20. Dallas will be at the fringe of the region of widespread power outages, and should not suffer major power failures.

My dad is trying to decide what to do and where to go if that happens. My parents are 74 and 75 respectively, and they would only go if I go, and their dog and my dog and my three cats too. And then, where to go? In my opinion, everyone else would be trying to get out at that point - just to escape the power outages - during Alicia we were out of power for 21 days. And there would be a long stretch of road without power for gas pumps.

So... those are the current thoughts of this Houstonian...

cheers to all

[rtd2]

When is the satellite eclipse and how long does it last?
Im generally asleep when it happens, lol. But won't it be about the time Ike is
making landfall?

dont think we have that anymore...were are live 24/7

[Weatherfreak14]

Looks extremely impressive compared to its whole time in the gulf

[RL3AO]

33 miles of movement in a little over two hours. It hasn't stopped.

I thought the mets are always preaching that when you have a huge eye(60 miles) that recon fixes can be deceiving when trying to calculate movement?

The fixes could be a few miles off, but not 15 miles.

[Weatherfreak14]

On radar it looks like its wanting to move to the NW, could be an illusion in my mind.

[6SpeedTA95]

The number of people dismissing this storm is truly disturbing. Talking with a buddy of mine about how bad this is going to be he said "yeah but its only a 2 this shouldn't be too bad". If it were a 2 hitting a rural area that may be true, but this is a strong 2, now borderline cat3 heading for HOUSTON one of the top 5 or 6 metro's in the nation I believe.

[JusLimin]

The site is swamped with people and some of us are on dialup.

PLEASE take it easy on the huge pics. And for heaven's sake, don't quote the pics so they have to load multiple times. I can barely get any pages to load.

Thank you.

[fasterdisaster]

This just became a whole lot more worrisome. I just saw that 40 PERCENT of Galveston residents DID NOT evacuate! That is 24,000 people!

[O Town]

When is the satellite eclipse and how long does it last?
Im generally asleep when it happens, lol. But won't it be about the time Ike is
making landfall?

dont think we have that anymore...were are live 24/7

Really? It seems I remember having one for Gustav or Hanna when it was in the Carib.
I was actually awake in the chat room that night.

[Janie2006]

KHOU reporting that Greens Bayou near I-10 is now flooding.

[rtd2]

Looks extremely impressive compared to its whole time in the gulf

Biggest cat2 I can remember.. good chance it goes to a cat3...Either way I see a Name retirement

[KWT]

Yep now upto 110mph, just short of major status and the same strength as Gustav when it made landfall. Not far off cat-3 now and not a lot of difference between 95 and 100kts.

[dizzyfish]

I just watched the KHOU met and from what he showed it looks like the eye will go directly over Houston. Looks like Beaumont is gonna get hammered!

I really feel for all you folks! I hope you all stay safe!

[rtd2]

When is the satellite eclipse and how long does it last?
Im generally asleep when it happens, lol. But won't it be about the time Ike is
making landfall?

dont think we have that anymore...were are live 24/7

Really? It seems I remember having one for Gustav or Hanna when it was in the Carib.
I was actually awake in the chat room that night.

I've been wrong before but I thought we were 24/7 MAYBE its the location Carib vs Gomex??

[HURAKAN]

Biggest cat2 I can remember.. good chance it goes to a cat3...Either way I see a Name retirement

Ike is already retired, you say that based on its history. Cuba will do the job and the US will supplement more details for retirement.

[dolebot_Broward_NW]

The number of people dismissing this storm is truly disturbing

Watching KHOU - seeing folks let their kids chuck rocks in the floodwater, texting, taking photos. Lets hope they decide to take cover and not be statistics.

[jabman98]

Slightly NW of downtown Houston here. No rain yet - occasional sprinkles. But wind has picked up. We're boarded up, so it's kind of spooky listening to it. The folks across the street have two cars parked on the street. Can't figure that, as we have had localized flooding here with heavy rain - just street flooding, not house flooding. Fingers crossed it stays that way.

Most birds and squirrels are in hiding at this point. Haven't seen any out and about for several hours.