ATL GUSTAV: Tropical Depression - Discussion

[RainWind]

Dejavu....I have been hearing helicopters flying overhead heading to New Orleans all afternoon. It was a constant sound for weeks after Katrina. Glad to hear them BEFORE the storm. RW

[Cryomaniac]

How does it not? So the eye has clouded...there have been a lot of cat 3 hurricanes that didnt have eyes, until further strengthening. Ex. Emily 2005. When it reached cat4 for the first time in the east caribbean, it did not have a clear eye.

Fair enough, but it isn't all that common, at least in my (very limited) experience.

As I said, I'm not questioning the strength, this could be very bad for New Orleans and surrounding areas.

[Weatherfreak000]

It definitely made a N-NE wobble as you said, Deltadog. The latest satellite imagery confirms that.


What are pro mets thoughts on the storm stacking...is it possible an eye is about to clear out?

[tolakram]

Looks like convection my now be surrounding the center, perhaps the LLC and MLC are finally lined up? Also looks like the dry air is locked out of the core for the moment anyway. Of course I could be looking at this completely wrong.

[pablolopez26]

I'd think it's more likely to be a naval vessel. I appears headed to Pensacola. Don't they have a naval station there? They were pretty close to Gustav this morning, but those guys aren't much scared by hurricanes. It even could have been a training mission, to get the crew used to doing their duties under the stress of high winds and heavy seas.

It'd be cool to know which ship it was. I dont know if theres any way to find out.

Oh well.

[KWT]

This is moving faster than I even thought it would...Might be onshore in 12-14 hours now.

Yep indeed, very impressive foward speed indeed and I agree unless it slows.

Also this means that TS force winds may only be a few hours away now, people in LA as well as states close to them should be ready for a pretty powerful hurricane and good luck to everyone!

[Nexus]

131 mph flight level wind detected in the NOAA recon (NE Quad), highest today I believe.

[superfly]

As I said earlier, this is the best Gustav has looked all day and recon confirms it. Pressure down to 952 and they finally found flight level winds that justified cat 3 (114 kts in NE quad).

[PhillyWX]

No question that this is becoming better organized. Look at the red all the way around that small warm spot, that is the eye. I expect to see it clear out. Be very scare, because if shear don't pick back up, this could strengthen some maybe as much as 10-15 knots. In maybe just maybe not making landfall as a weaking storm like the others.

FL of 114 kt just recently reported -- Gustav has one more round in him...this will be an interesting night ahead.

[Derek Ortt]

I am a little worried about the latest satellite images

[PTrackerLA]

Chances of me getting ANY sleep tonight virtually zero . Hopefully he doesn't get any stronger but that is a very menacing last visible. I've been talking to people in the city that are DOWNPLAYING the potential effects because "it's only a cat 3 with 115 winds." Big lesson about to be taught in south-central Louisiana. It's been DECADES since we've even had sustained cat 1 winds here and from reading what many of our great posters have reported having gone through with Wilma, Charley, Rita, Ivan, etc I'm braced for quite a blow.

[hiflyer]

This is the ship reporting
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m ... _n27398332

"The Sklenar and its sister vessels, the M/V W.H. Blount and the M/V Bernardo Quintana, transport high quality limestone aggregates from Vulcan's Sac Tun quarry on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula to markets along the U.S. Gulf Coast, the east coast of Florida and the Caribbean."

http://www.vulcanmaterials.com/ship/MV_ ... _Specs.pdf

[BigB0882]

First rains here in Baton Rouge! Looks like a small storm that broke off from one of the bands. Could possibly be something else but I would guess it came from Gus.

[Ivanhater]

Chances of me getting ANY sleep tonight virtually zero . Hopefully he doesn't get any stronger but that is a very menacing last visible. I've been talking to people in the city that are DOWNPLAYING the potential effects because "it's only a cat 3 with 115 winds." Big lesson about to be taught in south-central Louisiana. It's been DECADES since we've even had sustained cat 1 winds here and from reading what many of our great posters have reported having gone through with Wilma, Charley, Rita, Ivan, etc I'm braced for quite a blow.

Lol, Im not going to bed either...I just hope power holds up!

[Janie2006]

Ivan, did you notice just how fast those storms are moving across NW Florida to SW Alabama and now South Mississippi? The large area of convection just south of the coastline is moving more rapidly than I had anticipated, really.

[THead]

No question that this is becoming better organized. Look at the red all the way around that small warm spot, that is the eye. I expect to see it clear out. Be very scare, because if shear don't pick back up, this could strengthen some maybe as much as 10-15 knots. In maybe just maybe not making landfall as a weaking storm like the others.

Yes, and the thing is, if it is intensifying during landfall, it doesn't really matter if winds increase 5,10, or 15 mph, just the fact that a landfalling storm is in intensification mode makes it a whole different ballgame, than a weakening landfalling storm. You all know what I mean, even if I didnt describe it well.

[HURAKAN]

Damage in Cuba:











Link: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gVWj ... wD92THN402

[Ivanhater]

Ivan, did you notice just how fast those storms are moving across NW Florida to SW Alabama and now South Mississippi? The large area of convection just south of the coastline is moving more rapidly than I had anticipated, really.

Yep..nasty outerband that went from NW Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi...just a little preview of whats to come Im afraid

[PTrackerLA]

Chances of me getting ANY sleep tonight virtually zero . Hopefully he doesn't get any stronger but that is a very menacing last visible. I've been talking to people in the city that are DOWNPLAYING the potential effects because "it's only a cat 3 with 115 winds." Big lesson about to be taught in south-central Louisiana. It's been DECADES since we've even had sustained cat 1 winds here and from reading what many of our great posters have reported having gone through with Wilma, Charley, Rita, Ivan, etc I'm braced for quite a blow.

Lol, Im not going to bed either...I just hope power holds up!

I have a BIG generator .

[Mattie]

I am a little worried about the latest satellite images

why?