Hurricane watch issued for Florida Keys, storm could move into Gulf

[OnBaseMachine]

Hopefully it stays away from the New Orleans or Biloxi area...

Hurricane watch issued for Florida Keys
Tropical Depression 18 grows in Atlantic

Sunday, September 18, 2005; Posted: 1:11 p.m. EDT (17:11 GMT)

(CNN) -- A hurricane watch has been issued for the Florida Keys as a tropical depression strengthened in the Atlantic, the National Hurricane Center said Sunday.

Tropical Depression 18 formed late Saturday near the Bahamas, and the National Hurricane Center forecasts the storm will intensify as it moves west toward the Keys, Cuba and the Gulf of Mexico.

The hurricane watch extends from Ocean Reef southward and westward to Dry Tortugas, which means hurricane conditions and sustained winds of 74 mph or more are possible within 36 hours.

A hurricane watch also is in effect for the northwest Bahamas.

The storm had top sustained winds of 35 mph, but forecasters predicted it would gain intensity and become Tropical Storm Rita by Monday morning and reach hurricane status by Tuesday morning.

At 11 a.m. ET Sunday, the storm was about 390 miles east-southeast of Nassau, Bahamas, and was moving west at near 12 mph, according to the hurricane center.

The storm should move over the eastern and central Bahamas later today. The hurricane center's advisory said up to 8 inches of rain might fall in the Bahamas.

Forecasters said the storm's projected path would take it through the Straits of Florida between South Florida from Cuba. By Wednesday morning, the storm could become a hurricane and move into the Gulf of Mexico.

A tropical storm warning was issued Saturday night for the Turks and Caicos and southeast and central Bahamas, meaning tropical storm conditions and sustained winds of 39-73 mph are expected within 24 hours.

To the east of TD 18, Tropical Storm Philippe became the 16th named storm of the busy 2005 season Saturday night.

As of 11 a.m. ET Sunday, Philippe's top sustained winds had reached 50 mph, and the storm was expected to reach hurricane strength during the next 24 hours. Its center was about 425 miles east-southeast of the Leeward Islands, and it was moving north-northwest at about 7 mph.

Philippe's three-day forecast showed the storm heading to the northwest, into the Atlantic. However, forecasters warned people in the central and northern Lesser Antilles to keep an eye on the storm.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/09/18/tropical.weather/

[oneupper]

TD 18 is now Tropical Storm Rita.

Track has it going towards Mexico/Texas.

[OnBaseMachine]

Long-term forecasts show the system heading generally toward the west in the Gulf of Mexico toward Texas or Mexico later in the week, but such forecasts are subject to large errors. That means that areas ravaged by Hurricane Katrina could potentially be in the storm's path.

http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/arti...00010000000001

Plus another storm may develop...

A Large And Complex Area Of Disturbed Weather Is Located About Midway Between Africa And The Lesser Antilles. This System Remains Poorly Organized But Has Some Potential For Development During The Next Couple Of Days As It Moves Westward To West-Northwestward.

http://www.weatherhub.com/Hurricane/

[jmcclain19]

Could easily turn into NO or Mississippi.

God help them

[Unassisted]

It's been unseasonably warm in the gulf region for weeks and that's a large area of warm water for this one to strengthen in.

South Texas could definitely use the rain, but I won't wish those hurricane-force winds or the storm surge on the coastal dwellers.

The thousands of evacuees who are here will undoubtedly be worried if it heads toward Texas. I don't think there's much to worry about this far inland, though.

[SandyD]

I keep thinking the boss is going to send us home soon. This will probably keep us here a bit longer.

[OnBaseMachine]

Max Mayfield was on Fox News talking about this storm last night. He says it will most likely develop into atleast a Cat 3 or 4, and New Orleans could still be hit, depending on the steering winds.

It does indeed look like the storm moved north a bit. Yesterday's projection had it hitting south Texas or Mexico, now it's closer to central Texas. But it's still too early to know the exact location for landfall.

Bush said there is "deep concern" about the possibility that Tropical Storm Rita, which was headed toward the Florida Keys, could head into the Gulf of Mexico and drop more rain on New Orleans. If that happened, he said he has been warned that the city's levees could not hold and would be breached again.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...091900543.html

While the hurricane center's current central forecast is for Rita to head for the Texan coast, the storm may hit anywhere from northeast Mexico to Louisiana, according to the probability cone. Storm tracks can change, however: When Katrina moved into the Gulf after crossing Florida, the storm was expected to track northward and make landfall again in the state's Panhandle.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...gil00&refer=us

[RBA]

No, no such thing as Global Warming.

[OnBaseMachine]

Storm continuing to move more northerly than originally predicted; New Orleans now in the cone.

[RANDY IN INDY]

Originally Posted by RedBloodedAmerican

No, no such thing as Global Warming.

I smell a thread closer.

[OnBaseMachine]

The yellow projection has it hitting NO nearly head on.

[LoganBuck]

Hitting Galveston would be worse than hitting NO again IMO. Galveston has become our defacto major southern port city because of Katrina. A blow there could really cripple the US economy.

[Unassisted]

Galveston is already making plans for evacuation for the expected Friday landfall. If voluntary evacuation is announced tomorrow, there will be 80 buses available to relocate people without transportation inland. FWIW, Galveston's population is about 50,000.

[GoReds]

What makes it worse is that even if it doesn't hit NO, they have it on track to head towards Houston - where a good number of evacuees are located.

Someone has some SERIOUS bad karma.

[Reds/Flyers Fan]

Originally Posted by OnBaseMachine

The yellow projection has it hitting NO nearly head on.

That yellow line would be nothing short of armageddon for New Orleans. Let's hope that doesn't happen.

When was the last time we got into the "R's" for named hurricanes? How low in the alphabet have we gotten and what, God forbid, happens if we pass "Z"?