Hurricane Katia -- Sat 2 PM update, pg 2, post 16

[JimMIA]

Tropical Storm Katia will probably achieve hurricane strength later tonight or tomorrow morning, so there will be an onslaught of media hype. To make matters worse, Katia will probably reach major-storm (Cat 3) strength over the weekend.

This system is WAY far away -- out in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean -- and will not be within 1000 miles of the US until early next week.

The current computer models do not look like it will threaten Florida at all, but considering the distance and length of time between where she is now and Florida, obviously that could change.

I don't expect this storm to be a problem for the US at all, but I'll post an update if it changes course enough to become a problem for people vacationing at DVC WDW, VB, or HHI.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Thanks for the update....considering we just had Irene visit us here on long island I hope she stays well out to sea

 

[nolanboys]

I will be checking in. We leave next Friday and hoping that it won't impact our travel. Thanks for the updates.

 

[dgaston]

Yeah I can do without another hurricane visit. Our family is fine -- didn't even lose power, but many here in NE CT did not fare as well. The schools have delayed opening until after Labor Day, and many towns still have 50% or 75% of their families without power.

KATIA STAY AWAY!

As usual, thanks for your rational updates, Jim.

 

[DizDays]

JimMIA, who knew you'd be reporting again so soon? I'm subbing on so I can keep up to date since we are sailing on 9/18. Thanks for all you did to update us on Irene.

 

[hot_mama]

Thanks for the update. I will be watching for more, especially since we leave for WDW next Thursday.

 

[mousenyc]

I'm heading to Jamaica on Saturday. Hopefully it stays out (far away) at sea

 

[GoofItUp]

I hope no one is caused any damage by Katia, but what I wouldn't do for a little of that rain....

 

[hot_mama]

I hope no one is caused any damage by Katia, but what I wouldn't do for a little of that rain....

Me too!!!! I'm from north central Texas and things are getting pretty bad here. We have several friends who have lost their homes to fires. Too bad we can't just direct all that rain to us!

 

[Marine Mom]

Yeah I can do without another hurricane visit. Our family is fine -- didn't even lose power, but many here in NE CT did not fare as well. The schools have delayed opening until after Labor Day, and many towns still have 50% or 75% of their families without power.

KATIA STAY AWAY!

As usual, thanks for your rational updates, Jim.

I AGREE!!! I also live in CT and here we are, day 6 NO POWER. UGGGHH!!!

 

[dgaston]

It's a little scary that the NE towns are passing out MREs and bottled water, and opening schools/town buildings for water and showers. And all this from a Cat 1 hurricane. It doesn't seem like CL-P is getting it done quickly. And then I heard they were planning on raising rates to cover the costs of restoring power.

Marine Mom: Hope your power gets turned on soon!

 

[edk35]

I hope it stays away from the east coast entirely and goes out to sea. We had a lot of power outages here in MD and some people are still without power. We lucked out and only had 2 1/2 hours of no power Sat. night but for some it was days.

 

[jgdsoarin]

I am crossing my fingers and toes that Katia says far away. Here in Central Virginia, we have had to deal with the earthquake and Irene in the past week! We still have quite a few in our area without power, although we were fortunate to get ours back after a day. Many of my friends just got lights restored yesterday and a few are still waiting. Driving around seeing the downed trees and power lines and the damaged homes was unreal. And, all this from a Cat. 1! So, Katia--go away... far, far away!

 

[astro784]

Oh please stay away Katia!

We still have no power - they say it should be back by Tuesday. At least we got cable and internet back this morning and thankfully we have a generator.

And the night sky sure is beautiful without all the lights!

 

[DizDays]

So sorry for everyone still without power! I remember what it was like. We were in Miami for Hurricane Andrew in 1992. That was wacko! We had our own problems a few months ago here in Chicago after the derecho. Not fun. Praying for all of you. Stay cool! We'll keep an eye on Katia and hope she stays out to sea.

 

[JimMIA]

As I said at the outset, I'm not going to be updating this thread regularly because I don't think Katia is going to be a threat to any DVC properties.

Katia has been through several changes, and each time, she seems to come out a little weaker than before. She went from TS to hurricane, back to TS, and now back to a Category 1 hurricane. She was projected to reach Category 3 strength, but is now only expected to reach Category 2.

If you've been watching the forecast tracks, you've probably noticed that Katia was once drawing a bead on the NC coast. That's now swung a little more north.

However, I usually pay a LOT more attention to the computer model runs. They've been a bit all over the place, but now they're all starting to bend around to the right. The two I like best have essentially converged on a track that has Katia recurving back to the NE, hitting Nova Scotia if she hits anything at all.

Katia is still WAY out in the middle of the Atlantic, so there is still plenty of time for this baby to change course. But from what I'm looking at, I don't expect Katia to hit the US at all.

 

[WolfpackFan]

Katia is still WAY out in the middle of the Atlantic, so there is still plenty of time for this baby to change course. But from what I'm looking at, I don't expect Katia to hit the US at all.

Jim - I hope you are right. I have been concerned all along that this was going to be another Fran for us here in NC. Fran had a very similar track.

 

[bobbiwoz]

I hope you're right! We've a 3 night RCCL cruise a bit later this month. It's a lot less to book during hurricane season, and we took the bait.

 

[bjakmom]

I appreciate the updates on this one, Jim - not worried about FL myself - just selfishly waiting to see whether or not I will take all the pool/yard/garden furniture and accessories back out of storage after we packed it all away before evacuating for Irene in order to hostess a planned outdoor Bridal Shower on the 11th. I am still just too exhausted to consider the thought of prepping for another hit.

 

[dizkneedreamers]

We're heading down to WDW sept 11th, if it does hit FL looks like it will be during our vacation......


I HOPE NOT!!!!!

Keep us updated! I'll be checking everyday.