Hurricane Laura

[nWo]

Wednesday evening update:

BULLETIN
Hurricane Laura Advisory Number  28
NWS National Hurricane Center Miami FL       AL132020
400 PM CDT Wed Aug 26 2020

...WIND AND WATER LEVELS INCREASING AS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS HURRICANE LAURA TAKES AIM AT THE NORTHWEST GULF COAST......CATASTROPHIC STORM SURGE, EXTREME WINDS, AND FLASH FLOODING EXPECTED ALONG THE NORTHWEST GULF COAST TONIGHT...

SUMMARY OF 400 PM CDT...2100 UTC...INFORMATION
----------------------------------------------
LOCATION...27.9N 92.8W
ABOUT 155 MI...250 KM S OF LAKE CHARLES LOUISIANA
ABOUT 155 MI...250 KM SSE OF PORT ARTHUR TEXAS
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...145 MPH...230 KM/H
PRESENT MOVEMENT...NW OR 320 DEGREES AT 15 MPH...24 KM/H
MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE...947 MB...27.97 INCHES

 

 

 

[Randy Parker]

4 hours ago, swamprat said:

140 MPH sustained winds. Yikes!!!!

 

Jeez.

[Bluegrasscard]

I talked to people in Houston this afternoon.  They were not too worried or focused on the storm.  Seems they expected it to stay east of the the Houston area. 

[nWo]

At 7 pm EDT the sustained winds have increased to 150 mph another 7 mph and Laura will become a cat 5 storm.

[sportsfan41]

Wild to look at how much that eye of the storm developed in 24 hours time after you mentioned it @nWo.

[sportsfan41]

3 minutes ago, nWo said:

At 7 pm EDT the sustained winds have increased to 150 mph another 7 mph and Laura will become a cat 5 storm.

I guess if there is any silver lining it's that once it makes land fall the warm water temps won't be fueling it like over the gulf.  Night time should bring cooler temps as well.  

[swamprat]

20 minutes ago, sportsfan41 said:

I guess if there is any silver lining it's that once it makes land fall the warm water temps won't be fueling it like over the gulf.  Night time should bring cooler temps as well.  

One can hope, however, we're talking the Gulf. The temp does not go down at night as much as it does up there. For example, right now, it is dark here in Tampa and the temp is still 87. It may get down in the upper 70s early tomorrow morning, but it will still be more than 80 at midnight. 

[TheDeuce]

The latest pass by the hurricane hunters picked up 158 mph winds in the northern eye wall. 
 

I’ll be staying up tonight watching this. 

[swamprat]

34 minutes ago, swamprat said:

One can hope, however, we're talking the Gulf. The temp does not go down at night as much as it does up there. For example, right now, it is dark here in Tampa and the temp is still 87. It may get down in the upper 70s early tomorrow morning, but it will still be more than 80 at midnight. 

That is the air temperature. The Gulf water temperature at this time of year is like bath water, between 83 and 87 degrees. 

[Randy Parker]

1 hour ago, TheDeuce said:

The latest pass by the hurricane hunters picked up 158 mph winds in the northern eye wall.

That's insane. 

[nWo]

Thursday morning update:

BULLETIN
Hurricane Laura Intermediate Advisory Number 29A
NWS National Hurricane Center Miami FL       AL132020
100 AM CDT Thu Aug 27 2020

...EXTREMELY DANGEROUS CATEGORY 4 HURRICANE LAURA MAKES LANDFALL
NEAR CAMERON LOUISIANA...
...CATASTROPHIC STORM SURGE, EXTREME WINDS, AND FLASH FLOODING
OCCURRING IN PORTIONS OF LOUISIANA...

At 100 AM CDT (0600 UTC), Doppler radar images indicate that the eye 
of Hurricane Laura has made landfall at the coast near Cameron, 
Louisiana, near latitude 29.8 North, longitude 93.3 West. Laura is 
moving toward the north near 15 mph (24 km/h), and this motion 
should continue through the day.  A northeastward to 
east-northeastward motion is expected tonight and Friday.  On the 
forecast track, Laura will move inland across southwestern Louisiana 
this morning, and then continue northward across the state through 
this afternoon. The center of Laura is forecast to move over 
Arkansas tonight, and over the mid-Mississippi Valley on Friday, and 
the mid-Atlantic states on Saturday.

Air Force reconnaissance and Doppler radar data indicate that the
maximum sustained winds are near 150 mph (240 km/h) with higher
gusts. Rapid weakening is forecast as Laura moves inland.

Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 60 miles (95 km) from
the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 205
miles (335 km).  A Weatherflow site in Cameron recently reported a
sustained wind of 101 mph (163 km/h) with a gust to 116 mph (187
km/h).  A National Ocean Service site at Calcasieu Pass reported a
sustained wind of 93 mph (150 km/h) and a wind gust of 127 mph (204
km/h) within the last hour. A wind gust of 104 mph (167 km/h) was 
recently reported at Lake Charles, Louisiana. 

The minimum central pressure estimated the from Air Force Hurricane
Hunter observations is 938 mb (27.70 inches).