Complete Hurricane Ike Gallery-Season Over; Not Much Snow November 30, 2008

Don

 

Look for the local forecast below….

Seraching For Victims of Ike

Today is the final day of the hurricane season in the North Atlantic.  This past year, there were 8 hurricanes and 16 named storms.  The forecast was about right on the named storms and short on the number of tropical cyclones that reached hurricane status.  Five of the hurricanes were considered “major” hurricanes, which is a high percentage.  So, the forecasters get a “B” in my book.  Here is a list of all of the storms with an archive of the advisories. 

I bet you didn’t know that Gustav was responsible for 46 deaths and $1.9 billion in damage.

The storm with the biggest impact on the US was Hurricane Ike.  Curiously, the press did not really give it

Hurricane Ike Radar Image At Landfall

much coverage after the storm was over even though I believe current cost estimates ($8.1 Billion) would put it as the 3rd costliest hurricane in US history behind Katrina and Andrew, though I’m sure there will be quibbling about cost vs. inflation adjusted costs.   Ike also has so far been responsible for the deaths of 72 people with impacts far inland from its Galveston landfall.  There are still scores of people missing.  Yet, the press corps didn’t seem to think it was worth reporting.   You make the call as to why. Here’s a published story.  Anyway, over time, I had lots and lots of photos and videos associated with Ike from local video to NASA stuff.  Take a gander at it all below:

NYTIMES Slide show

AP SLIDE SHOW-via yahoo

Houston Chronicle

Houston Chronicle Reader’s Photo Gallery

More Photos from Houston

More Galveston Photos

Hurricane Ike Rescue photos

BBC Slide Show

CNN Link Video-Some Live shots(as of 4pm EDT 0914)

Louisville Wind Damage From Ike video

Louisville Wind Damage Slide Show

KHOU-Bolivar Peninsula Destroyed-Video

CNN photos 19

CNN Houston Photos 8

Austin American Statesman photos 265

Hurricane Ike Damage -Boston WCVB Slide Show 63 images

Crystal Beach Video-Before Hurricane Ike

Crystal Beach Family Photo Video-Before Hurricane Ike

Crystal Beach Video-After Hurricane Ike Destruction

LA Times slideshow

Boston Globe (28 photos)

some GREAT HD images

NWS (more photos) Louisville

aerial video including Valhalla Louisville

RAW VIDEO FROM SUNDAY Louisville 9/14 aerials

Guardian UK Hurricane Ike Aftermath Photos

WCVB  The Boston Channel

Spreadit photos

Here are USGS Before and After photos from Bolivar Peninsula.

(Graphical Map of Crystal Beach Detailing Devastation)

Numerous videos from Houston/Galveston Aftermath of Hurricane Ike

KRIV Hurricane Ike Damage Photos.

link to the NYTimes slide show Galvestonians return to island

18Z Sat Mesoeta 48 Hr Sfc Temps

No Snow: I”ve tried to find an excuse to get you folks excited about snow but it just isn’t there.  The 18Z

Sat 18Z Mesoeta 48 Hr. Precip

Sat 18Z Mesoeta 48 hr 900mb

Meso-ETA is the model that I am using as an example and, while the GFS is a little colder, the Meso-ETA is pretty representative of the current thinking which is that the lower part of the atmosphere will be just too warm when the precipitation is falling.   I guess the biggest difference is that the GFS would put out about a quarter to half inch of snow Monday night that may accumulate but we’re thinking that most of the moisture will be out of here by then.  If you look at the 1PM Monday Meso-ETA precip, then compare it with the surface temperatures you will see that they are well above freezing.  Then, the 900 mb temperatures are just above -4C which is about 25F and is about 800 meters off the deck…2500 feet or so.  This is not a very good recipe for snow…maybe snow showers on Monday but accumulation will be tough and I wouldn’t be surprised to see some light rain mix in with any snow.  Kids, you’re going to school. The week ahead looks cold with Wednesday the exception with highs in the low to mid 50′s ahead of another cold front.

More Hurricane Ike Damage Photos/Video; Crystal Beach Before and After; Lootin’ Means Shootin’ & Smokin’ With Willie September 16, 2008

Don't Mess With Texas

Ryder Cup Clean-Up At Valhalla

for additional Hurricane Ike Damage photos and video from Texas and the Louisville area, CLICK HERE. 

In Louisville, Hurricane Ike left over 300,000 Louisville Gas and Electric customers without power.  By Monday evening, that number was down to 215,000.  A problem that is hampering efforts, aside from the number of lines down, is that some of the LG&E folks had gone to Texas to help out with restoring power in that state.  Now, the state of Kentucky is experiencing its largest power outage ever.  Several counties in Indiana are not only without power, but also under a state of emergency.  Just like the LG&E folks help out in other areas of the country, others will come to the Commonwealth to pitch in.  Well, other states in the region have their own problems and many of their folks are also down in Texas.  So, they just had a press conference and announced that it may be 10-14 days before power is fully restored. Great…guess who has

I-45 South 7 Miles from Galveston

no power?  I’m glad our weather will be dry with cool nights and warm afternoons.  Don’t worry, the Ryder Cup will come off  without a hitch. The clean up is in full force and there was only minor damage at Valhalla. You folks should see the people crowding into the gas stations and grocery stores that are open.  And the fast food joints that are open are running out of food.  One thing we don’t have is looting.  The mayor got a bit testy when a reporter even uttered the word.  From the picture above, you can see that they probably don’t have much of a looting problem either…..if they do, it won’t last for long.  Looters will find out the reason why people have guns in Texas.

Not Such a Crystal Beach after Ike

Speaking of Tejas.  Crystal Beach is just to the east of Galveston Bay.  Galveston Island is on the west side of the entrance to the bay while Bolivar Peninsula with Crystal Beach is on the east side of the entrance.  Bolivar Peninsula was immediately to the right of the eye of Ike as it made landfall which means that it caught the full force of the winds and surge.  At the bottom are more photos from Texas.  One is a slide show from a Boston TV station.  The others are video of Crystal Beach.  One is directly after the storm but the others are from Crystal Beach before Ike so you can get an idea of what it looked like.  The after images shows ravines gouged out by the water is it retreated to the sea.  Crystal Beach is almost wiped clean in some places.

You can see other photos and videos from Hurricane Ike Damage by clicking HERE and HERE.

President Carter

On This Date In History: Remember during the 1976 Presidential election how Jimmy Carter used his stellar integrity as a campaign club? Remember the famous “lust in my heart” comment and the focus on his Southern Baptist upbringing? President Carter was extremely bright. He served honorably in the United States Navy as a Captain directly under the command of Admiral Hyman Rickover aka the “father of the nuclear navy”. President Carter was known as a peanut farmer in campaign literature but the truth is he was a nuclear engineer of great ability. He and President Herbert Hoover are the only academically trained engineers to serve as President…you can draw your own conclusions. Anyway, all of this makes what happened in the middle of September 1980 all that more remarkable.

On this date in 1980, the old Red Headed Stranger was probably feeling pretty good about himself.  Just three days before, on September 13, 1980 President Carter hosted a concert by none other than Willie Nelson at the White House. Willie Nelson of “Whiskey River” and “Outlaw” fame. Willie Nelson on his 3rd marriage at the time. Later Nelson went on to run up an interesting rap sheet of marijuana arrests and was convicted of failure to pay his income taxes. Not one to be kept down, Willie made a new record called The IRS Tapes: Will You Buy My Dreams? A lot of people did because Willie paid back the hundreds of thousands, if not millions(I can’t remember how much it was) in back taxes.

 

Willie Nelson

But, I suppose to forgive is Divine, especially if you are forgiving a country music star with some good tunes. Seems President Carter liked to listen to Nelson’s music while pondering policy and other items associated with the pressures of being President. Carter told Rolling Stone magazine, “All the good things I did as president, all the mistakes I made — you can blame half of that on Willie.” Nelson, who was a public supporter of NORMAL (National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws) exercised his protest right, I suppose, by lighting up what he called “a big fat Austin torpedo” while on the White House roof. That would be a giant joint for all of you lacking in the hip verbiage of the day. Carter said he never knew about it but Nelson claims the Secret Service kept a sharp eye on him while he sparked up on the Carter White House roof. Nelson has traced his lineage to the American Revolution. Perhaps he was doing his version of the Boston Tea Party as he toked away on top of the Presidential residence.

 

 

Hurricane Ike Damage -Boston WCVB Slide Show 63 images

Crystal Beach Video-Before Hurricane Ike

Crystal Beach Family Photo Video-Before Hurricane Ike

Crystal Beach Video-After Hurricane Ike Destruction