Monday, September 01, 2008

Florida Dodging Gustav's Fury


Good news!

"The hurricane warning east of the Mississippi-Alabama border to the Alabama-Florida border has been changed to a tropical storm warning."
At 4 am CDT, NHC reports the center of Gustav is about 100 miles south of New Orleans. It is a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph and higher gusts. The center of the storm is moving northwest at a speed of 16 mph.

NHC at 4 am has more, most of it good for Northwest Florida:
No significant change in strength is likely before landfall... with weakening expected to begin after Gustav moves inland later today.

Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 70 miles... from the center... and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 230 miles... .
* * *
An extremely dangerous storm surge of 10 to 14 feet above normal tidal levels is expected near and to the east of where the center of Gustav crosses the coast.

Gustav is expected to produce total rainfall accumulations of 6 to 12 inches over portions of Louisiana... Southern and Western Mississippi... Arkansas and Northeastern Texas... with isolated maximum amounts of up to 20 inches possible through Thursday.
Locally, winds are very gusty and hard rains fall as each outer storm band passes overhead. Total overnight accumulations are less than an inch at this time.

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