Ike's Been All Over the Place Today...

and so have I. Hopefully I can get out a better update tomorrow.

Please be sure to see the pleas for help with animal evacuees/rescues in LA in my earlier entries today, and post them far and wide!

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For this blog entry, when you click on the images you will be taken to the bigger version instead of to the WU or NHC page. That's only because I want you to be able to compare them instead of seeing the latest update. I want you see the uncertainty involved in predicting/forecasting hurricantes.

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Here are just a few things to consider regarding Ike:

Take a look at the two images below. The first one is portion of the 11 a.m. NHC forecast track & the second is the 11 p.m. forecast track. See how much that center line and the edges of the cone of uncertainty have changed in just 12 hours? That is why everyone along the Gulf Coast, but especially those in TX & LA, need to keep an eye on IKE.

11:00 AM 9/8

11:00 PM 9/8

To see the latest NHC forecast track, click here.

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I am posting the track from WU only to show the forecast intensity. I want to add that Dr. Masters notes in his blog that Ike could just as easily be a Cat 1 or Cat 3 at landfall.

Courtesy Weather Underground 11 PM EDT

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Here are the model runs from the WU page. Click to see the larger versions in a new window. See how much those changed from the 8 a.m. runs to the 8 p.m. runs? Please note the "initialized" times, not the time on the top left side of the picture.

To see the latest models on the WU page, just go here.



Of course, since I'm just now finishing this up at almost 1 am CDT and the next update is due about now... Oh well, likely the 2 am EDT models won't be out right at 2 so I'm posting before I accidentally fall asleep with my Hershey's bar and laptop in my bed.