JimMIA
There's more to life than mice...
- Joined
- Feb 16, 2005
- Messages
- 21,168
Okay...here we go again!
Anyone heading to Florida between Tuesday and Friday of next week really needs to watch this storm. Hurricane Ike is already a strong Category 4 storm with sustained winds of 145 MPH and gusts to 180.
This is a very small, very powerful, and fast-moving storm.
Position:
At 11 AM this morning, Ike was located about 525 miles NE of St Maarten in the Leeward Islands.
Ike is moving WNW at 17 MPH, which is fast for a tropical system. Ike is in the middle of an up and down ride on the map -- it was at 20 degrees north latitude yesterday, will rise to about 25 degrees N, and then slide back down to about 22-23 degrees N latitude. In terms of direction, it will continue WNW, then make a turn WSW on Friday, then turn back to WNW on Sunday.
The reason for that path is a large weather system to the north which will push Ike south and then begin to weaken as an influence. How strongly and how far south that system pushes, and the timing of its weakening, will determine if and where Ike makes landfall. That will take a few days to develop, so we probably won't have a good idea where Ike is going until Sunday/Monday.
On Friday, Ike is expected to weaken to a Category 3 storm, but by Sunday it will be back up to a Cat 4.
Earlier models offered the hope that Ike might continue SW over Hispaniola or Cuba, but the current track and models indicate it will follow a path similar to Hanna, but with more consistent direction and predictability.
Hopefully when Ike starts that final turn to the NW it will just keep on going and recurve out into the Atlantic...but that's not what the models say currently.
Keep an eye on this storm.
Anyone heading to Florida between Tuesday and Friday of next week really needs to watch this storm. Hurricane Ike is already a strong Category 4 storm with sustained winds of 145 MPH and gusts to 180.
This is a very small, very powerful, and fast-moving storm.
Position:
At 11 AM this morning, Ike was located about 525 miles NE of St Maarten in the Leeward Islands.
Ike is moving WNW at 17 MPH, which is fast for a tropical system. Ike is in the middle of an up and down ride on the map -- it was at 20 degrees north latitude yesterday, will rise to about 25 degrees N, and then slide back down to about 22-23 degrees N latitude. In terms of direction, it will continue WNW, then make a turn WSW on Friday, then turn back to WNW on Sunday.
The reason for that path is a large weather system to the north which will push Ike south and then begin to weaken as an influence. How strongly and how far south that system pushes, and the timing of its weakening, will determine if and where Ike makes landfall. That will take a few days to develop, so we probably won't have a good idea where Ike is going until Sunday/Monday.
On Friday, Ike is expected to weaken to a Category 3 storm, but by Sunday it will be back up to a Cat 4.
Earlier models offered the hope that Ike might continue SW over Hispaniola or Cuba, but the current track and models indicate it will follow a path similar to Hanna, but with more consistent direction and predictability.
Hopefully when Ike starts that final turn to the NW it will just keep on going and recurve out into the Atlantic...but that's not what the models say currently.
Keep an eye on this storm.
to all those in the path of Hanna and/or Ike. 
