As many of you may know, I produce a variety of weather imagery maps for web and broadcast in SD and HD. Since there is a lot of interest in the path of hurricane Gustav, I thought I’d post a near-live image, which will update every 30 minutes.
Click image for full size or animate this image: Click for loop>>> 
What is interesting to note, is that as of this writing, Gustav seems to be losing organization. The eye, which was well defined just before making landfall on Cuba, seems very nebulous. Watch and wait.
Update: 3:30PM PST, while there was some weakening earlier, it now looks like signs of increased angular momentum are showing up in the satellite imagery. A defined eye may appear again.
Sorry Katrina 2005 – typo
Those levees have not been rebuilt.
The evac was right, Cat 4 or 3, amount of deluge counts.
In Aus we don’t have hurricanes but cyclones, but we learn from everyone of the focking bastard things.
Those levees should have been rebuilt.
As for politics, what the [snip] does politics have to do with human life in an emergency.
The media disgust me.
I should have said better stronger levees.
And no one here has mentioned tide and tide is important after deluge.
I hope it swings away from the Delta and upriver.
This is a flood event, in the case of your nation, borders dont matter.
Lousiana is now a flood event.
States east of Lousiana should start flood plans.
Oops west. I mean the flood will travel west.
I apol.
REPLY: We type in complete sentences here sir, try harder.
Looks like Gustav is making landfall right now (1100 GMT) as can be seen from New Orleans radar (zip code 70148) from Wunderground.com:
http://www.wunderground.com/radar/radblast.asp?zoommode=pan&prevzoom=zoom&num=6&frame=0&delay=15&scale=1.000&noclutter=0&ID=LIX&type=N0R&showstorms=0&lat=30.03060150&lon=-90.06633759&label=New%20Orleans,%20LA&map.x=400&map.y=240&scale=1.000¢erx=400¢ery=240&showlabels=1&rainsnow=0&lightning=0&lerror=20&num_stns_min=2&num_stns_max=9999&avg_off=9999&smooth=0
Hope that long URL works.
Looks as though it’s taking a more southerly and westerly track than Katrina.
“Gustav’s power is likely to be LOWER than current predictions of standard meteorology.” Piers Corbyn.
http://co2sceptics.com/news.php?id=1749
Moisture from inside rockies and the Caribean.
I gotta call always.
Couple of nice storm charts. Never heard of these guys before yesterday…and I’ve GOT some weather links. “Crown Weather Services”
http://www.crownweather.com/al07wind.gif
http://www.crownweather.com/al07windzoom.gif
Probably bad and not good.
[snip] load of water.
Watch the moisture stream off sea and Inside range. One in a 100.
The storm weakened just prior to landfall to a Category 2 hurricane.
http://www.accuweather.com/news-story.asp?partner=forecastfox&traveler=0&article=0
Yaakoba (21:22:40) :
You are right Ric, not all coastal city’s have a levee system. And those that don’t, usually have some type of seawall.
The seawall does help prevent flooding and erosion of sand land. And helps our fellow human keep from drowning in awful weather.
So with this in mind, it is very important to have very strong levees and very strong seawalls.
Because these storms are our water and without water the human race will not survive.
I hope everyone fairs this storm and is safe and okay.
“Isn’t that what the Gore Greenies are doing with Carbon Offset trading?” Brian J
Maybe, but Gaia does not promise eternal life.
It now appears that Gustav is down to Cat 2, yet the media treat it like the worst storm in recorded history. Perhaps they want higher ratings? NO has had $billions pumped into (and out) since Katrina. Where did it go? Something like $200 billion. A person might think that would help rebuild and strengthen a few of those levees. Yet the media says the levees are substandard, they didn’t get sufficient funds. I’d like to see an audit.
In the long run, Mother Nature will win. If you build your house 6 feet below sea level, sooner or later, you will get wet.
Jack Walker (04:30:22) :
“I gotta call always.”
Why? Who? Should I care?
Chief Meda Global Warmingista Seth Borenstein with yet another biased story for AP. I did not notice that he asked any scientists who agree that not only will AGW not increase the number and intensity of tropical systems but if it were occurring, the number of storms would decrease. And by the way, anybody notice how quiet the Pacific is this season? Warm AMO, more Atlantic hurricanes, cool PDO, fewer hurricanes.
Back to Story – Help
Global warming’s toasty water connection to Gustav By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer
Sun Aug 31, 5:27 PM ET
“Global warming has probably made Hurricane Gustav a bit stronger and wetter, some top scientists said Sunday, but the specific connection between climate change and stronger hurricanes remains an issue of debate…”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080831/ap_on_re_us/sci_gustav_warming_2
I will speak my mind one more time and I will try to let it rest.
I work for the State branch of the Federal Gov..
I too believe that there has been money granted to build up those levees.
Where it goes, who knows.
I do know that the F.B.I. Is trying to solve the Federal money loss.
They are pretty smart women and men, so given the time they need, they will find where it went.
Farewell.
The warm water story would be more believable if SSTs in the Gulf were above normal – which they aren’t.
Hurricane Gustav, although still destructive in its own way, it is no match for the energy that was put into Katrina by the solar wind dynamic pressure back in 2005. During Katrina’s life, there were 26 hours of major solar wind dynamic pressure spikes of 5 npa and more .There were at least 3 major solar wind spikes during Katrina, the largest being 31npa [1 hour averages]. During 17 of these 26 hours, the Bz component of IMF was [-]or from the ’ south’ thus further enhancing the transfer of energy from the solar wind plasma to the earth’s magnetosphere and pumping more electricity into the earth’s electrical grid, which in my opinion provides the extra kick to the hurricanes[ like Katrina].
No major solar wind dynamic pressure spikes have taken place during Gustav’s life to date and it will probably decline as a hurricane relatively fast .
During the first 7 months of 2008 the monthly average number of major solar wind dynamic pressure hours of 5 npa or more is only 13-14. During August of 2005, when Katrina blew in, there were 43 hours of major solar wind dynamic pressure spikes. Some will argue that there is no correlation but the numbers prove otherwise.
REPLY: By what mechanism do you attribute solar wind pressure to hurricane strength? I cannot imagine of one, but perhaps you know somehting I do not. – Anthony
To Retired Engineer
The government should exercise its power of eminent domain to condemn the land and use the sub-sea-level land in New Orleans for a purpose that benefits all instead of rebuilding for private purposes every three years, using tax payer money. Oh! That is an error. They have not completed rebuilding from the damage caused by Katrina three years ago. Regarding your question: Where did it go? Do you remember the song “Smoke Rings?” Where do they go, smoke rings I blow each night? Oh, where do they go? Substitute US$200 million for smoke rings.
To politics,
We are all subject to the vagaries of Nature regardless of any affiliations we might have. In that sense, Nature is apolitical, as science should be, as it strives to emulate Nature.
I didn’t realize that 70MPH is considered a hurricane. In Colorado we call that “spring.”