Came to the Beach Anyway
Aug. 31st, 2008 10:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shipperxSince the storm seems to be veering west, we went ahead and came down to the beach as planned. We've kept an eye on the weather, to see whether the storm will extend this far. If there had been any prediction of it veering this way, we would have headed home, but it seems that the storm will miss the panhandle. No hurricane conditions are expected even though tomorrow will no doubt be a "stay inside" day with rain and thunderstorms. Still the local news services aren't predicting anything particularly intense this far from the center of the storm.
Unfortunately, it seems pretty certain that it's going to be hitting Louisiana (many of the homes and condos in this area are owned by people from Louisiana and I've noticed a lot of Louisiana tags in driveways and around town. I suppose we're in the zone of where people have chosen to evacuate to).
The last I saw in the local news was that the eye will almost certainly continue on track to just west of New Orleans, give or take 20 miles. If there's any good news to be had on the New Orleans front, it's that the storm isn't expected to strengthen back to a Cat 4. That should lessen some of the storm surge predictions (which had been pretty shockingly high as of yesterday). However, Cat 3's can do so much damage that that the small degree of lessening in intensity must be small consolation to those in the path of the storm. Hopefully things will go as well for NO as can be expected of mother nature. (fingers crossed that this isn't like Katrina)
The beach this afternoon was surprisingly hot given the weather, but I think it may be similar to when there are tornadoes. The atmosphere feels a bit too full of energy while at the same time being oddly "still". And by "still" I don't mean that there's any lack of wind (it is gusty). It's just that the wind seems to bring no relief from the heat. Looking at the water, it was clear that the waves were whipping up and slanted westward in the direction of where the storm is tracking, which is probably a factor in the build-up of the storm surge. (Looking at the National Hurricane Center, we're well out of the area expecting any storm surge). And watching the skies was fascinating because there seem to be two levels of winds (although this is probably really an optical illusion based on the way that distance distorts your view. At a glance it looks as though the lower clouds race while the upper clouds move far more slowly, two distinctly different speeds though I suspect that the high clouds are moving just as fast, it's simply a matter of distance that they look like a backdrop beneath which the lower clouds race. And, this being the far outer reaches of the storm, these aren't dark, ominous clouds but pretty, fluffy ones. Strange how such a dangerous thing can manage to look so very, nearly pretty.
Hopes for the best for Louisiana. May this storm not be as bad as predicted.
Unfortunately, it seems pretty certain that it's going to be hitting Louisiana (many of the homes and condos in this area are owned by people from Louisiana and I've noticed a lot of Louisiana tags in driveways and around town. I suppose we're in the zone of where people have chosen to evacuate to).
The last I saw in the local news was that the eye will almost certainly continue on track to just west of New Orleans, give or take 20 miles. If there's any good news to be had on the New Orleans front, it's that the storm isn't expected to strengthen back to a Cat 4. That should lessen some of the storm surge predictions (which had been pretty shockingly high as of yesterday). However, Cat 3's can do so much damage that that the small degree of lessening in intensity must be small consolation to those in the path of the storm. Hopefully things will go as well for NO as can be expected of mother nature. (fingers crossed that this isn't like Katrina)
The beach this afternoon was surprisingly hot given the weather, but I think it may be similar to when there are tornadoes. The atmosphere feels a bit too full of energy while at the same time being oddly "still". And by "still" I don't mean that there's any lack of wind (it is gusty). It's just that the wind seems to bring no relief from the heat. Looking at the water, it was clear that the waves were whipping up and slanted westward in the direction of where the storm is tracking, which is probably a factor in the build-up of the storm surge. (Looking at the National Hurricane Center, we're well out of the area expecting any storm surge). And watching the skies was fascinating because there seem to be two levels of winds (although this is probably really an optical illusion based on the way that distance distorts your view. At a glance it looks as though the lower clouds race while the upper clouds move far more slowly, two distinctly different speeds though I suspect that the high clouds are moving just as fast, it's simply a matter of distance that they look like a backdrop beneath which the lower clouds race. And, this being the far outer reaches of the storm, these aren't dark, ominous clouds but pretty, fluffy ones. Strange how such a dangerous thing can manage to look so very, nearly pretty.
Hopes for the best for Louisiana. May this storm not be as bad as predicted.
