Models true and wide divergence after 3 days but we don't need a Cat 3+ in the Mid Gulf.
Oil went up over $5.00 a bbl today and the storm isn't anywhere near the rigs yet.
GFDL isn't looking good, but in time most of the models will shift West.
Busy hurricane season. A lot more in the Gulf this year than normal and the worst one of all hit Florida 3 or 4 times.
This one won't effect Friday's game - but it will be hyped to no end if it keeps heading this way.
I'm a little concerned about the possible impact of Gustav on my trip down to Houston this weekend. The game looks like no problem but I wonder about Sunday/Monday. I hope I don't get caught in a wave of evacuees heading north on I-45. Hopefully the storm heads father east and weakens.
The game is Friday so I would think a trip back Saturday will be fine. The storm seems to be slowing down a bit and I suspect landfall won't be until the middle of next week.
I don't know if it's coming towards Texas or Louisiana or east of that. But I do think if it gets stronger in the Gulf, the Memphis game could be problematic. We may have trouble getting out of town on Friday if we're in the storm's path, and if heads east, we may have trouble getting into Memphis. Even though Memphis won't be getting a direct hit, I wonder if some athletic events from say Sept 3rd-7th might be postponed??
Storm moved a bit south overnight so the cone definitely moved a bit west. Most of the models are now predicting a LA landfall into Katrina country. If it hits as a Cat 2/Cat 3 (or higher) anywhere from say Beaumont to New Orleans, the city of Memphis will not be focusing on football next week. In fact, if the present path stays true, I could definitely see us postponing the Memphis game until Nov. 15th (both teams have open weeks that week).
Way too early still I realize but Jindal and Nagle in LA are possibly going to be ordering evacuations in the next few days. So it's something both Houstonians and Memphis residents need to keep track of.
The models have a drastic new wrinkle in the forecasts this morning sending Gustav for the most part into LA but then curving it southwest towards Houston and Texas. If that curves occurs early enough, then it may just be a rain event and a rain event only but Gustav has strengthen into a Cat 3 hurricane and TS winds are now extending 160 miles out from its center.
It's also predicting to slow down tremendously near the U.S. Which should give us a lot of time over the weekend to prepare.
I'm thinking a couple of things. First of all, Gustav may be the biggest rainmaker in Houston since Allison. And second of all, it might be tough to think about football in Louisiana through Houston next week. I'm probably over-reacting since three of the six models seem to be presenting a path that probably won't be too bad for Houston. But the more respected GFS and GFDL models present a path that is eerily similar to Allison (and begins with a Cat 3 hurricane rather than a TS).
What do y'all think? I'm not evacuating nor do I expect Houston/Galveston to order evacuations at this point. But this doesn't look all that great either for us.
No plans to evacuate here, particularly since I have nowhere to go!
They have started boarding up some windows on-campus. As a precaution, I imagine.
And the "Crisis Management Team" met today.
Up to Cat 4 now. Cuba's in for a pounding. The people there will be in our prayers.
We just picked up our dog at the Canine Hilton in Austin on our way home from the game. They said they're getting a lot of calls from people headed over from Louisiana and Beaumont and are preparing for their arrival (drop off the pets and then stay with friends/hotel).
Well, I was supposed to be driving to Destin Florida monday for vacation (via I-10). That should be before landfall of Gustav but gosh I don't want to get mixed up with the evacuee traffic. My alternative...Memphis. So I hope we're still playing.
Must see TV.... you can watch the live feed from WVUE-TV in New Orleans live on the Internet...
Looks like there may be a problem on the Industrial Canal.. overtopping...
Better coverage than the Weather Channel and the cable news channels..
http://www.fox8live.com/#
Click on the "click here" button and the feed opens in a new window
Also pretty big changes in the direction of Gustav after landfall... a lot of the models recently had it taking a left hook towards Houston, but all seem to have it going north now instead.