Ike...Yikes!!

The big weather story this week is Hurricane Ike.After laying waste to Cuba it is now on it’s way to Texas and expected to make landfall near Houston.They are expecting a large storm surge from this one.For those interested,you can listen to a Houston radio station at http://www.kilt.com/.Warning:it’s a country music station.I have also added a storm tracker to the weather site.It's worth a look and has lots of features.Check it out and let me know what you think.

Our weather has been rather hum-drum this week.It is basically typical late summer weather here.The overnight temps have actually dipped into the single digits…around 7°C on Wed and Thurs and the daytime temps have been reaching into the 20s.There is very low humidity so it’s great for getting the yard ready for winter…….it’s not that far away!!!

Watch our weather as it happens via our cam(s).Click here.
Note: The temps shown in the forecast block in this blog are reported from the nearest local weather station located at Western Head which is very near the ocean. The temps there are quite different than here usually.

The Last Of Hanna

Hanna was basically a non-event here.We had a slight amount of wind and rain and it began to clear in the early afternoon.By mid-afternoon we were enjoying mostly clear skies and temps in the upper 20s.Humidity levels remained high,near 80%,making it rather uncomfortable.
This evening it has remained mild with temps holding at 20° and it is almost completely calm.The upcoming week is looking good with only a slight possibility of rain on Wednesday and temps expected in the lower 20s.
Hurricane Ike,currently in the Caribbean,will have no effect on our area and is on a track towards Texas and Louisiana.It has already done a fair bit of damage in Haiti and will soon be over Cuba.

HAVANA (AFP) - Hurricane Ike took aim at Cuba Sunday after leaving 20 people dead in Haiti, where fatalities from a succession of powerful storms in the past few weeks now tops 600.

Ike was downgraded Sunday from a Category Four hurricane to a still potentially devastating Category Three, as Cuba evacuated hundreds of thousands in a frantic bid to evade the storm's fury.
Officials in Haiti meanwhile, continued aid operations in the flood-stricken town of Gonaives, which has borne the brunt of recent flooding and seen untold misery and destruction .
Ike plowed across the low-lying Turks and Caicos overnight as a powerful Category Four storm, causing some injuries and extensive damage on the British territory and tourist haven, Bahamas radio reported.
The hurricane then raked the southeastern Bahamian island of Great Inagua, toppling trees, blowing off roofs, causing an island-wide power failure and forcing many of its one thousand residents to seek refuge in shelters, a resident told AFP by telephone.
With winds decreasing slightly to 120 miles (195 kilometers) per hour, the storm was forecast to roar ashore in eastern Cuba Sunday night as a Category Three "major hurricane" on the five-level Saffir-Simpson scale.
But the immediate concern was its effect on Haiti , where a humanitarian crisis was unfolding after flooding from Ike and previous storms Hanna and Gustav left around 600 people dead and thousands in desperate need of food, clean water and shelter.
With winds near 215 kilometers (135 miles) per hour, the storm's outer bands lashed Haiti's vulnerable northwest coast with torrential rain.
Hundreds of bodies were found in flood-prone Gonaives, a town of 350,000 in northwestern Haiti, after a five-meter (16-foot) wall of water and mud engulfed much of the town. The storm followed on the heels of Hanna, last week's massive storm.
United Nations peacekeepers on Saturday evacuated several thousand residents from Gonaives, a local official said, but thousands more are still awaiting relief.
Some 650,000 Haitians have been affected by the flooding, including 300,000 children, and the task of delivering crucial aid has been complicated by dismal transport conditions, according to UNICEF.
Officials said 200,000 people have been without food and clean water, many for four days.
At least 20 people were found dead Sunday in Cabaret, 13 of them children, when a torrent of muddy water raged through the village, the region's parliamentarian said.
"What has happened here is unimaginable," deputy Pierre-Gerome Valcine told AFP from Cabaret, 35 kilometers (22 miles) north of the capital Port-Au-Prince.
"Many homes were destroyed in Cabaret, and we have seen some bodies of children in the water," added a journalist for UN radio who spent the night on the roof of his house.
Massive flooding over the past week in the poorest country in the Americas has triggered a humanitarian crisis that was worsening by the day -- and prompted prayers from Pope Benedict XVI.
"I want to remember the dear population of Haiti, greatly distressed in recent days by passing hurricanes," Benedict told pilgrims on the Italian island of Sardinia.
Continuing stormy weather hampered relief efforts Sunday, when heavy rains led to the collapse of a key bridge which severed the only viable land route to Gonaives.
The bridge gave way overnight at the town of Mirebalais in central Haiti, forcing three trucks loaded with emergency supplies and bound for Saint-Marc, where thousands of desperate flood refugees from Gonaives were crowding into shelters, to turn back, according to a World Food Programme official.
Many bridges in other areas of Haiti have also collapsed, homes have been washed away and crops ravaged.
Meanwhile, more than 600,000 people in Cuba began evacuations Sunday ahead of the Ike's arrival, including 9,210 foreign tourists who were moved out of Varadero, a tourism mecca about 120 kilometers (75 miles) east of Havana.
Cuban Vice President Jose Ramon Machado, meeting with authorities in Holguin, urged people to "carry out the evacuation in an orderly and speedy fashion," and to take steps to "avoid the loss of life."
Ike was expected to eventually careen past Florida into the Gulf of Mexico and sweep toward Louisiana and the storm-battered city of New Orleans as early as Tuesday.



Watch our weather as it happens via our cam(s).Click here.
Note: The temps shown in the forecast block in this blog are reported from the nearest local weather station located at Western Head which is very near the ocean. The temps there are quite different than here usually.

Hanna Approaching

The past couple of days have been very warm with temps reaching into the 30°C range here on ‘The Hill’. Hanna is expected to be in the area early Sunday bringing with it lots of rain and some strong winds.
The overnight temp was just slightly below 20° which is quite warm for this time of the year. Currently it is mild and slightly foggy. There is no wind at all.
For updates from the CHC on Hanna and current conditions please visit my weather site at http://liverpoolweather.echoz.com .

1. CURRENT POSITION, STRENGTH, CENTRAL PRESSURE AND MOTION

AT 3.00 AM ADT... TROPICAL STORM HANNA WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE
33.2 N AND LONGITUDE 78.9 W... ABOUT 25 NAUTICAL MILES OR 50 KM
SOUTH OF MYRTLE BEACH . MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE ESTIMATED
AT 60 KNOTS... 111 KM/H... AND CENTRAL PRESSURE AT 983 MB. HANNA IS
MOVING NORTH AT 18 KNOTS... 33 KM/H.

2. FORECAST POSITION, CENTRAL PRESSURE AND STRENGTH

DATE TIME LAT LON MSLP MAX WIND
ADT MB KTS KMH
SEP 06 3.00 AM 33.2N 78.9W 983 60 111
SEP 06 9.00 AM 34.9N 78.4W 987 55 102 INLAND
SEP 06 3.00 PM 36.7N 77.1W 990 50 93 TRANSITIONING
SEP 06 9.00 PM 38.9N 75.1W 992 45 83 TRANSITIONING
SEP 07 3.00 AM 41.0N 72.6W 993 45 83 TRANSITIONING
SEP 07 9.00 AM 42.7N 68.9W 994 40 74 POST-TROPICAL
SEP 07 3.00 PM 44.8N 64.8W 995 40 74 POST-TROPICAL
SEP 07 9.00 PM 46.5N 60.0W 996 40 74 POST-TROPICAL
SEP 08 3.00 AM 47.4N 56.3W 995 40 74 POST-TROPICAL
SEP 08 9.00 AM 48.2N 51.5W 995 40 74 POST-TROPICAL
SEP 08 3.00 PM 49.1N 46.7W 994 40 74 POST-TROPICAL
SEP 08 9.00 PM 50.0N 42.0W 994 40 74 POST-TROPICAL
SEP 09 3.00 AM 50.6N 37.6W 990 45 83 POST-TROPICAL
SEP 09 9.00 AM 50.9N 34.1W 990 45 83 POST-TROPICAL
SEP 09 3.00 PM 51.1N 29.7W 990 45 83 POST-TROPICAL



Watch our weather as it happens via our cam(s).Click here.
Note: The temps shown in the forecast block in this blog are reported from the nearest local weather station located at Western Head which is very near the ocean. The temps there are quite different than here usually.

Hanna hits Bahamas after pounding Haiti

NASSAU, Bahamas — Tropical storm Hanna knocked out power to the southern Bahamas on Wednesday and officials from Nassau to South Carolina warned residents to prepare for possible evacuations as it moves north and grows into a hurricane.

The storm, packing 95 km/h winds, turned to the northwest after lingering for days near Haiti, where it caused flooding that killed 26 people.

Bahamas National Security Minister Tommy Turnquest cancelled all leave for the Bahamas Royal Defence Force to keep soldiers on standby for disaster response.

"I now urge the general public to take the necessary precautions," Turnquest said at a news conference Wednesday.

As Hanna took aim at the heart of this Atlantic archipelago, islanders were also tracking two other storms churning westward in the open ocean — hurricane Ike and tropical storm Josephine.

"We’ve got three of them on the way. We’ve just got to be prepared," said Frank Augustine, 47, a convenience store manager, as he bought 10 large water jugs under blue skies at a Nassau depot.

Only a few dozen of the Bahamas’ roughly 700 islands are inhabited, but they are near sea level and have little natural protection. In the south, Hanna knocked out electricity in Mayaguana Island and forced the closure of some small airports including those in Long Island and Acklins Island.

The storm was expected to pass near or over the central Bahamas on Thursday before reaching hurricane strength. But the National Hurricane Center in Miami warned its reach was expanding, with tropical-storm force winds extending up to 465 kilometres from the centre.

"Hanna has become a large tropical cyclone," the centre said.

On Wednesday afternoon, the storm was centred just southwest of the Turks and Caicos Islands. It was moving north-northwest at 16 km/h and was forecast to pick up speed over the next day.

Long-range forecasts call for the storm to hit anywhere from Georgia to North Carolina on Saturday and curve along the U.S. Atlantic coast. On Wednesday, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford said he was returning from the Republican convention in Minnesota to deal with the storm.

The storm has drenched the Turks and Caicos and Puerto Rico but wreaked the most havoc in storm-weary Haiti, where it flooded the western city of Gonaives.

Ike became a hurricane Wednesday as it sped toward the northern Caribbean with maximum sustained winds of near 112 km/h. The hurricane centre said it was too early to determine what areas might be directly affected by Ike.

Following behind was Josephine, which grew stronger, with top winds near 100 km/h.

By MIKE MELIA The Associated Press

This Just In...

Regarding Hanna:


WOCN31 CWHX 031800

TROPICAL STORM HANNA INFORMATION STATEMENT ISSUED BY THE CANADIAN
HURRICANE CENTRE OF ENVIRONMENT CANADA AT 3.00 PM ADT WEDNESDAY
03 SEPTEMBER 2008.

THIS IS A PRELIMINARY INFORMATION STATEMENT REGARDING POSSIBLE
FUTURE EFFECT OF HANNA ON ATLANTIC CANADA. REGULAR MESSAGING IS
PLANNED TO BEGIN AT 9.00 AM ADT THURSDAY 04 SEPTEMBER.

WE ARE MONITORING THE DEVELOPMENT AND MOTION OF TROPICAL STORM HANNA
OVER THE BAHAMAS. MOST COMPUTER MODELS SHOW THE STORM REGAINING
HURRICANE STRENGTH AS IT MOVES NORTHWESTWARD TOWARD THE SOUTHEASTERN
U.S. THE MODELS ARE ALSO SUGGESTING THAT THE REMAINS OF THE STORM
COULD MOVE NORTHEASTWARD TOWARD EASTERN CANADA SOMETIME DURING THE
UPCOMING WEEKEND..BRINGING WIND AND RAIN. IT WON'T BE UNTIL LATE
THURSDAY OR FRIDAY BEFORE WE HAVE MORE SPECIFICS ON HOW THE SYSTEM
MIGHT AFFECT THE REGION. THIS MESSAGE SIMPLY SERVES AS A HEADS-UP TO
THE POTENTIAL ROLE OF HANNA IN OUR FUTURE WEATHER..AND TO INFORM THAT
THE CANADIAN HURRICANE CENTRE WILL BE WATCHING THE SYSTEM CLOSELY.

Hanna

It is looking like Hanna is going to be paying us a visit on Sunday.The current forecast track has the storm moving up the east coast of the US and into the maritimes over the next 4 to 5 days.

Two more storms are now active in the tropics along with Hanna.They are Ike and Josephine.Ike is forecast to move westerly towards southern Florida while Josephine is moving north westward towards Bermuda.

Hanna leaves 10 dead in Haiti

By VIVIAN TYSON The Associated Press
Wed. Sep 3 - 5:36 AM

PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos — Hanna caused killer floods in Haiti on Tuesday, and even as it weakened to a tropical storm, forecasters said it threatens to hit the U.S. East Coast as a hurricane.

Ten bodies were found Tuesday in Gonaives along Haiti’s western coast, said Marie Alta Jean-Baptiste, the country’s civil protection director, and a university student drowned in Puerto Rico.

"The situation is as bad as it can be," said Vadre Louis, a UN investigator based in Gonaives. "The wind is ripping up trees. Houses are flooded with water. Cars can’t drive on the street. You can’t rescue anyone wherever they may be."

Hanna’s relentless rains hit Haiti’s northern edge a week after hurricane Gustav drenched central and southern Haiti and two weeks after tropical storm Fay struck the country. More than 100 Haitians have died from floods and mudslides caused by the three storms.

Hanna’s maximum sustained winds slipped to 110 km/h, but the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said it still has the potential to become a hurricane again by Thursday.

The hurricane centre said its forecast track would carry Hanna toward "the east coast of Florida, Georgia or South Carolina in two to three days."

But it said the track was uncertain and that the entire Southeastern U.S. coast should closely monitor the storm.

Forecasters said they expected it eventually to head toward the northwest and reach the central Bahamas by Wednesday.

Meanwhile, newly formed tropical storm Ike was cruising westward across the central Atlantic and was projected to near the storm-weary Bahamas by Sunday. It had winds of 95 km/h and could become a hurricane on Wednesday. Still further to the east, tropical storm Josephine formed Tuesday and it was heading west at about 24 km/h, with maximum sustained winds of about 65 km/h. The hurricane centre said it could near hurricane force by today or Thursday.

More than 8,000 Haitians remain homeless in the wake of hurricane Gustav, which was downgraded to a tropical storm as it moved over central Louisiana late Monday.

Watch our weather as it happens via our cam(s).Click here.
Note: The temps shown in the forecast block in this blog are reported from the nearest local weather station located at Western Head which is very near the ocean. The temps there are quite different than here usually.

Well Hurricane Gustav wasn’t the ‘storm of the century’ as predicted but still created some flooding and wind damage in La. It has been down graded to a tropical depression.
Currently there is lots of activity in the tropics,Hurricane Hanna is bearing down on the southeastern US,tropical storm Ike is intensifying and a new depression has formed off the coast of Africa.
The next week or so should be interesting.

Nothing new to report from here except that it was very windy yesterday and we lost a large tree branch that landed in the road partially hitting a passing vehicle. A few dents and a broken windshield were the result, there were no injuries to the passengers. It would have been much worse had the tree landed squarely on the car.

Temps are currently running in the normal ranges here (20 to25C).There is some rain and thunder expected on Wednesday and then it’s back to sunshine as the kids start a new school year on Thursday.
We may get some rain and wind from Hanna late this week or early next if it lasts that long.

Watch our weather as it happens via our cam(s).Click here.
Note: The temps shown in the forecast block in this blog are reported from the nearest local weather station located at Western Head which is very near the ocean. The temps there are quite different than here usually.