roncli.com blog

Kathy and I are home after spending a relaxing night and morning in San Antonio, TX. The ride home was a bit rough, lots of traffic, and some getting off at rare exits along the way.

When we got home, we were excited to see the electricity in the Galleria area on, when it had been off in practically every other area we saw. Sure enough, we get home and electricity's up, and I fired up the computers to find working Internet as well. Can you believe that?

It sucks for the rest of the city, and especially Galveston, for they aren't so lucky, and may have up to three weeks without power. Kathy and I are very fortunate.

So now it's business as usual for us, safe and sound. I still don't know if I have work tomorrow, as the power may still be out and the servers there are down. I'm sure I'll find out soon enough, though.

Labels: Weather

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Sleepful in San Antonio
Posted: 10:55:00 PM 1 comments

We just got into our hotel in San Antonio, away from the mess that is Houston. They're estimating over 4 million people without power in the Houston area, and some may not have power again for possibly a week to a month. If that's the case, this next week has the potential to be full of suck.

In any case, Kathy and I are going to get some much needed sleep. When we get home, I'll report on how Houston is doing.

Labels: Weather

San Antonio
Posted: 6:12:00 PM 0 comments

So 90% of the Houston area is without power. Kathy is getting off work a day and a half sooner than expected, and does not want to deal with the apartment as it stands.

So we're spending the night in San Antonio to get a clean room, A/C, and a good night's sleep away from it all. We'll hopefully be leaving in an hour or so.

Posted with LifeCast

Labels: Weather

Battery? What Battery?
Posted: 6:07:00 PM 0 comments

So apparently I forgot that cell phones require a charged battery to operate.

No worries though, I've got a car charger, and the battery's good now.

Posted with LifeCast

Labels: Weather

Ike Blows Over
Posted: 1:16:00 PM 1 comments

Well, the worst of Ike has passed, and it's clearly left behind a mess. I'm without power, although it did turn on an off over the course of the morning.

I woke up around 9 to find that the water seeping actually became fully flooded, about 1/3 the way into the apartment. There was no water left on the tiled floor, but cardboard boxes on the floor showed signs of water damage, and a floor mat by the couch was soaked. Fortunately, no appreciable damage.

Speaking of damage, after breakfast I'm gonna try to snap some photos of the damage around here. Should be quite a mess.

Posted with LifeCast

Labels: Weather

Power Out
Posted: 5:28:00 AM 0 comments

About 5 minutes ago, power went out again. This time it appears to be for good.

Sleep for me, catch ya in 12 hours or so.

Posted with LifeCast

Labels: Weather

Power Fluctuating Rapidly
Posted: 4:09:00 AM 0 comments

Over the past hour or so, transformers have been loudly blowing up all over the place. Just moments ago as I started typing this up, two transformers blew up within a second of each other. Power was out for 20 seconds or so.

4 am update is in, and although I can't bring you any images, I can tell you that Ike remains the strongest of category 2 hurricanes at 110 mph. It's tracking just east of me, bringing very heavy wind and rain to the Galleria area. We won't get an eye, just lots of nasty stuff.

An interesting note that the walkway to my apartment is flooded a couple inches, and due to a crappy door jam, water is seeping into the apartment. Whee.

Posted with LifeCast

Labels: Weather

Net Down
Posted: 3:20:00 AM 0 comments

Within the past hour, my Internet access died. With all of the transformers blowing up outside, I'm amazed I still have power,

The Weather Channel continues to entertain me, and..

...woah, that was loud, a nearby transformer just blew. Very loud.

Anyway, I am still in contact with Kathy, who is working her first 7p-7a shift. Nothing going on at the PD.

I've been outside a few times, and conditions aren't improving. It'll be a while before things calm down.

Another transformer blew loudly, almost took the power with it. Won't be long I imagine.

Posted with LifeCast

Labels: Weather

Ike coming ashore right now
Posted: 2:11:00 AM 0 comments

2 AM NHC update is in, and Galveston is now in the eye of the storm. Conditions outside here in the Galleria area have gotten crazy. I'm honestly amazed I still have power and am online. Last I was outside about 20 minutes ago, it was popping, and the sky was lighting up some shades of green, as transformers around me went out. Category 2 is going to be what the storm landfalls as, 110 mph winds.

Here's my latest images.

ike20.jpg: Latest track.

ike21.jpg: Radar image.

ike22.jpg: Landfall.

75 mph winds in town now. Fires in Galveston. 6 feet of flooding in downtown Galveston. Fun.

Labels: Weather

Midnight Ike images
Posted: 12:20:00 AM 0 comments

Well, NHC doesn't agree that it's straightening out... so it may miss Galveston to the east some. The beginning of the eye wall will start hitting Galveston within the hour.

ike18.jpg: The track as of midnight, a bit off from the forecast from 2 hours ago.

ike19.jpg: Radar. 'Nuff said.

Labels: Weather

Transformers blowing everywhere
Posted: 12:08:00 AM 0 comments

Wind has picked up considerably, 30 mph nearby with gusts to 65 mph at a location a few miles from here (CW 39 station). It's starting to get heavy. Local news is reporting nothing but "transformers are blowing everywhere!" Fortunately, I haven't been cut out of power yet, but the power fluctuations are increasing rapidly.

The Weather Channel has some excellent coverage right now. We're a couple hours away from landfall, and it's straightened back out. I'll post some images of the track in a moment... assuming the power doesn't knock out my computer again.

Labels: Weather

Friday, September 12, 2008

More Ike images
Posted: 11:23:00 PM 0 comments

Ike moves closer to shore, and actually took a jog to the north over the last 2 hours. This may spare Galveston from the worst of the hurricane.

It is still the strongest of category 2 hurricanes at 110 miles per hour, and it's slowed down a bit. Landfall is now predicted to be just before sunrise.

I actually got a chance to play some World of Warcraft, a much needed stress reliever for me. Power flashed off and on twice over the past three hours, but nothing too disruptive that I couldn't handle. The rain has started, although the winds haven't picked up too noticeably over the last few hours. I'm sure that's all about to change.

Here are some more images.

ike15.jpg: Ike's track and cloud cover. Note the track's been adjusted to the east somewhat.

ike16.jpg: A radar shot out of Galveston, different than the one I posted previously. Scary stuff.

ike17.jpg: A false color image of Ike... very, very impressive looking. We should be in for one helluva ride.

Labels: Weather

Ike strengthens, just short of category 3
Posted: 6:03:00 PM 0 comments

The 6 pm advisery is out, and the NHC is now issuing adviseries every 2 hours as opposed to every 3. Ike is the strongest of category 2 hurricanes, with wind speeds of 110 miles per hour. Ike's outer bands have already started to come ashore on Galveston, but it's still quiet here in the Galleria area of Houston, although the winds have picked up a notch.

Labels: Weather

ISS view of Ike
Posted: 4:44:00 PM 0 comments

Just wanted to link to this spectacular image of Ike.

Labels: Weather

Ike closing in
Posted: 4:34:00 PM 0 comments

The 4 pm update is out. No real change, still aiming for Galveston, still 105 mph winds as a category 2 hurricane. Landfall seems as though it's going to be well past midnight, so the morning should bring the fury of the storm into Houston.

Local radar suggests that the rain should be on its way soon. I just went outside a second ago, and the wind is picking up, though it's well short of tropical storm winds (39+ mph) at the moment.

Some more Google Earth imagery for you to enjoy.

ike11.jpg: The latest track for Hurricane Ike. The models are not showing up properly in Google Earth (they went back to models from a day ago), so they are excluded from this picture. But the models aren't important anyway, they are all tightly clustered around Galveston island.

ike12.jpg: Color image of Ike. Looks somewhat more impressive than 3 hours ago, but still not nearly as impressive as that Gulf-filling monster that it was yesterday.

ike13.jpg: Visible satellite. You can kind of see a huge eye forming in the middle of it all... if the overlay is accurate, this could mean that Ike is tracking somewhat north of what was expected, which, if that's true, may miss Galveston with the worst of the storm surge as a result.

ike14.jpg: Radar image. Like I said, huge eye.

Hmm. I *think* I just heard thunder. On with the show.

Labels: Weather

Ike still on track
Posted: 1:50:00 PM 0 comments

Overnight, NHC changed their forcast, and called for the hurricane to move somewhat east. It wasn't a major difference, only a few dozen miles if that. But, since the 10 am report, Ike has wobbled to the west a bit. This means there's still a high chance that the hurricane will track right over me, or to my left, both bad situations.

The hurricane's max winds have increased to 105 mph, and some minor strengthening is anticipated before landfall, although they've been saying that for the last 48 hours and nothing happened. The hurricane looks a bit less organized than it did yesterday, but that's because the inner eye wall finally collapsed, and it might have a chance to build a new one in the next few hours.

Nothing to report here yet, weather-wise. Things should start getting nasty in a few hours, though. Here's Ike's vitals:

Category 2 hurricane, 105 mph
27.4 N, 93.1 W, moving WNW at 11 mph
957 mb pressure

ike8.jpg: This image shows the wobble I referred to, as a fork off of that green line to the left.

ike9.jpg: The Houston area image, now with hurricane Ike nearby.

ike10.jpg: I don't know. It just doesn't have the impressive, "look, I'm kicking everyone's ass" look it did yesterday.

Labels: Weather

No significant change in Ike
Posted: 12:50:00 AM 0 comments

Ike's still on course for a Galveston landfall in about 24 hours. The weather should start picking up here in a few hours, but hopefully I should be asleep for that.

I am going to work on moving my blog to blogger.com to ensure that it's still up and running. You'll find it there shortly. And this time I'll remember to backup the CSS file.

Labels: Weather

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Bellaire PD called in
Posted: 5:38:00 PM 0 comments

Kathy got the notification today that she, along with all officers and dispatchers, will be required to be at the police department starting tomorrow at noon. They are looking at staying there for 3 days, working in 12 hour shifts.

That's gotta suck.

Labels: Weather

Dr. Jeffrey Masters blog
Posted: 5:29:00 PM 0 comments

For those that are interested in gritty, nerd-like details about hurricanes, like I am, definitely take the time to check out Dr. Jeffrey Masters blog over at Weather Underground. He goes into great detail, and offers his insight and analysis about tropical weather, such as Ike.

In other news, the NWS in Galveston had this to say about Ike:

All neighborhoods... and possibly entire coastal communities... will be inundated during high tide. Persons not heeding evacuation orders in single family one or two story homes will face certain death. Many residences of average construction directly on the coast will be destroyed. Widespread and devastating personal property damage is likely elsewhere. Vehicles left behind will likely be swept away. Numerous roads will be swamped... some may be washed away by the water. Entire flood prone coastal communities will be cutoff. Water levels may exceed 9 feet for more than a mile inland. Coastal residents in multi-story facilities risk being cutoff. Conditions will be worsened by battering waves. Such waves will exacerbate property damage... with massive destruction of homes... including those of block construction. Damage from beach erosion could take years to repair.

Nothing like serious blunt truth to brighten the day. Thank goodness I'm nowhere near that... The Galleria area is well inland to avoid such inundation, and we're also 60 feet up off of sea level.

Labels: Weather

Ike 4 PM CDT images
Posted: 4:39:00 PM 0 comments

Courtesy of Google Earth!

ike4.jpg: This shows the projected path (the multi-colored one with the hurricane icons on them), along with the leading models that say, we're pretty much screwed.

ike5.jpg: Same data, but a detail of the Houston and surrounding area. Again, screwed.

ike6.jpg: This image is almost unbelievable. Look at the size of this thing! It's a beast, bigger than Katrina was. It's still spreading rain across Cuba, Florida's just now getting left alone but still has some rogue bands affecting it, Yucatan's got some incoming bands, Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi will all feel something if this goes much more north, and of course Texas... yah, screwed.

ike7.jpg: This piece of spaghetti is... well... spaghetti. That's why it's called the spaghetti models, a whole bunch of hurricane position forecasting programs, all on one map. No surprise, Houston is a tangled mess.

I just noticed that between the 1 pm advisery and the 4 pm advisery that the storm is actually now back on a WNW track, which, unlike what I said in my last post, means that the storm's models are actually working as intended. But with my experience with Rita, nothing's certain yet.

Be back at 7, after I've boarded up the windows. I'll be checking email all day, so if you have any questions, let me know.

Labels: Weather

Ike takes aim at Galveston
Posted: 4:16:00 PM 0 comments

The 4 PM CDT forecast is in, and it's not pretty.

The storm is now forecast to come ashore ON Galveston island, 15 miles WSW of the city's dot on the map. This is also just 48 miles SSE of me in the Galleria area. This forecast path should take the eye almost right over me. Yikes.

Ike is still "only" a category 2 hurricane, with winds topping out at 100 mph. They are still forecasting strengthening to major hurricane status, but there are a lot of factors against this, such as dry air, cooler water temperatures, and a bit of wind sheer. But some of these factors are forecast to go away.

Again I must focus on NHC's inability to provide a reliable track. They keep moving the hurricane east, east, east. I don't understand why the models are predicting an immediate turn to the WNW when the hurricane is chugging along to the NW the whole time. If the models don't kick in as suggested, the hurricane may make it all the way to Beaumont, and we'll be on the better side of the hurricane.

However, with hurricane force winds spreading out over 115 miles from the center, there is no doubt that wherever this things strikes, this weekend's going to be a wet and windy one.

I'll post some more images and some vital stats on Ike in a moment. Google Earth is being a pain and crashing all the time lately. What the hell did they do with their app that it's so unstable these days?

Labels: Weather

Ike 1 PM update
Posted: 1:55:00 PM 0 comments

As of 1 PM CDT, here's Ike is still a Category 2 hurricane, 454 miles from its projected landfall in Freeport, TX.

During lunch, I loaded up on cash, and then got an extension cord. I'm going to need that tonight for the fun task of boarding up the windows, whee.

Labels: Weather

We don't like Ike
Posted: 11:01:00 AM 0 comments

Hurricane Ike is swirling around out in the Gulf of Mexico, and this time it has taken aim at the Houston area. Here are some pics, and be warned, they are rather large.

Ike 1: This picture shows just how well Ike is taking aim at the area. The pink dot at the top is where I live.

Ike 2: This picture shows the Houston area, as well as the models that are predicting that Ike will run over it.

Ike 3: The final picture shows the official NHC track along with a nice infrared view of just how freaking large this thing is. It's bigger than Katrina, even though it's still only a category 2 with 100 mile per hour winds. They're expecting a category 3, which would be 115 MPH winds, by landfall. Hurricane winds will extend well inland.

As for me, I haven't decided if I'm leaving yet. Kathy can't, as she's got to deal with working at the police station. In the meantime, there's lots of preparation to take care of tonight.

As of 10 AM, here are Ike's vitals:
Category 2 Hurricane
100 mph, gusts to 120 mph
Moving WNW at 10 mph
Pressure 945 mb
Current expected landfall as per NHC's track forecast: Freeport, TX, which is 38 miles SW of Galveston, and 56 miles east of due south of me in the Galleria area of Houston.

Labels: Weather

Thursday, March 01, 2007

Buffalo, Land of Snow (well, maybe next year)
Posted: 3:56:00 PM 0 comments

As usual, I spent the holidays with my mom in Buffalo, NY. Usually, around Christmastime, the weather's awful up there. I'm talking single digit temperatures that may or may not have a minus sign out in front of them and multiple snow storms that range anywhere from a few inches to several feet.

Well, this year was really odd. Buffalo got their first snowfall in early October. Apparently, it broke an 89-year old record for the most snow in one day in October. That record was broken again the next day with even more snow.

At the time, the trees still had their leaves, so the snow was being particularly weighty. A large majority of the trees couldn't take this kind of weight, so they all bent, snapped, or otherwise keeled over. When I went in December, the city still hadn't cleaned up. Anywhere there was trees, the skyline looked like a wreck, almost like a bad wind storm had been through.

What was most odd, though, was that it did not snow when I was there. Nine days without snow in Buffalo? Did hell freeze over or something?

Of course, I get back to Houston and the northeast gets hit with some ridiculous storm that saw Parish, NY, which is in another part of the state, receive about 12 feet. Buffalo was spared the worst, but it got its share.

I hate snow.

Labels: Weather

Monday, September 26, 2005

Blog back home
Posted: 7:01:00 PM 0 comments

Just an update, I've taken the blog back to blog.roncli.com, discontinuing roncli.blogspot.com. Enjoy!

Labels: Weather

And the stories pour in
Posted: 5:18:00 PM 0 comments

I've talked to a bunch of people here at work, and many of them have different experiences.

One was supposed to stay at his parent's house. However, the house was under heavy construction, and the danger of flying degree multiplied. He went to Austin.

One boarded up his house and his parent's house and rode out the storm at his place.

One girl was too lazy to do anything, and just stayed home Friday and Saturday, letting whatever happen.

One traveled south on US-59 for 9 1/2 hours, then got frustrated with traffic and turned around. He was back home in 20 minutes.

A second also traveled south on US-59 with a similar experience. She was trying to get her sister out of town, and simply gave up.

Then there was the one who stayed up on the 40th floor of the Williams Tower. I have yet to talk to him, but I doubt it was very interesting with the way the hurricane tracked.

Of course, the conspiracy theories poured in. Some believe that the media really intentionally pumped up this hurricane as a result of Katrina, causing everyone to panic so that they would have more to cover. Some believe that the weather services did a poor job of noticing the eye wall's collapse about 12-24 hours before landfall, making everything think this was still going to be a cat 5 at landfall. Some still think that Houston's smog cloud deflected the hurricane, but the jury's still out on that one.

Definiately an experience for Houston to remember. I'm just glad it is a positive memory for me. Many people went through hell to try to get out.

Labels: Weather

Return to semi-normalcy
Posted: 2:43:00 AM 0 comments

This evening, Kathy and I woke up around 7 pm and headed out to eat. We ended up at Dave and Busters, because I was lusting for one of their incredible chicken cheesesteaks. Well, Kathy and I ended up on the midway, where I blew away all the Rush 2049 top scores, while Kathy made enough tickets to buy a lovable red dragon stuffed doll. It was just what each of us needed to fully unwind.

Once we got home, I un-boarded the windows, putting them in the bedroom for future use. Then I started the long and tedius task of putting our network back together. I made a few improvements, including running the servers through an old hub for the local network, and patched up the apartment's connections so that we could run the laptop from the bedroom if we wanted. I doubt we'll ever use it, but the possibility is now there.

I also moved myself several feet away from Kathy's computer to give her more room, along with moving about a foot from the wall so that I could go back there when needed. I basically moved things around so that everything was within arm's reach, except the second monitor, which is further back so I can place more junk on my desk when needed.

Let me tell you, I am sore all over and completely exhausted. I cannot for the life of me remember a week as hectic or tiring as this one. I pray that'll never happen again.

As for this blog, I'll be enabling the style sheet soon, seeing as roncli.com and friends are back up. In about a day or so, I'll return it to the usual blog.roncli.com location so that I don't get those annoying adver-comments that really ticked me off, so if you're using the roncli.blogspot.com address, just know there'll be a change.

Of course, normalcy may mean updates every other week, but oh well. I'm just glad to be back to it.

Labels: Weather

Sunday, September 25, 2005

Home
Posted: 7:44:00 AM 3 comments

Well, we made it. Apartment is in perfect order. All I have to do now is put it all back together.

After I've slept for a looong time.

Labels: Weather

Sleep beckons
Posted: 3:41:00 AM 0 comments

We stopped a bit short in Palestine, TX for a bit of a nap. They have gas here, so we should be able to make it all the way in to Houston on the last leg. Kathy called in to check on traffic, and it's fairly normal which is extremely good news, we may be home by daylight.

Labels: Weather

Ft. Worth and beyond
Posted: 1:22:00 AM 0 comments

I've decided to try something a little crazy, namely hit I45 to Centerville. If anything goes wrong, I've got MapPoint to get us out of a jam. A bite to eat first, then more road.

Labels: Weather

Saturday, September 24, 2005

Need a traffic report
Posted: 10:35:00 PM 2 comments

Blog readers, I need your help.

I'm curious as to the status of I45 South into Houston. While I am headed to Ft. Worth, would one or more intrepid readers mind finding out how bad or good traffic into Houston is? Just write a comment here to report your findings. I appreciate any help we can get!

Labels: Weather

One leg down
Posted: 10:32:00 PM 0 comments

Made it to Albeline with 2 incidents, both cat related. Poor Crystal has to be scared out of her mind, the last few days being ridiculouly stressful.

On to Ft. Worth.

Labels: Weather

Headed home
Posted: 6:38:00 PM 0 comments

Because of the little damage to my apartment complex and the fact the lights are on, we're going to head home. We'll be using a similar route going back, with the exception of avoiding I-45 altogether.

ETA of departure is 7:30 PM. It's supposed to be a 12 hour drive. Assuming there will be traffic, I'll put our arrival at noon tomorrow. I'll be posting all the way home on our progress.

Labels: Weather

Good news
Posted: 3:42:00 PM 2 comments

I've heard the electricity was off for only 6 1/2 hours overnight, that was more than enough to kill my servers. But once I get home, I should be able to have everything back up and running. Right now, that's looking like Sunday night. Hopefully not too late Sunday night, I want time to put things back together.

Rita destroyed the coast at the Texas/Louisiana border. NHC did a rather poor job in forecasting Rita's position, but hurricane tracking is a poor technology at the moment, so I can understand that.

The latest on Rita shows her losing strength over east Texas. She'll continue to weaken, and it looks like the models have her pushing off to the east within a few days.

Labels: Weather

Servers down
Posted: 12:07:00 AM 3 comments

I just pulled myself away from the Weather Channel to find that roncli.com, modplug.com, osmusic.net, and all the other sites I run are down. I did a traceroute, however, to find that the problem is simply the internet connection at the complex is not working right, the router's sending me to random routers throughout the complex. That usually means that they just need to reboot it, but I doubt anyone's going to be there to do it. Assume these sites are down until at least Monday.

Landfall is looking like Louisiana as a cat 3 with 120 MPH winds. Houston will get a glancing blow no worse than what we took with Allison or Fae. Chances are, I will be leaving here Sunday early morning for the long haul back. Using side roads, of course!

Labels: Weather

Friday, September 23, 2005

Rita Weakening
Posted: 1:57:00 PM 0 comments

Rita's looking a lot better this afternoon. For one, the models are no longer predicting the "Allison" effect, namely the storm sits on top of us for days a time. For two, she has weakened to a category 3 storm with 125 MPH winds. For three, she's tracking further and further to the east, the models are almost putting it right at the border.

So the trip to Lubbock might prove to be useless. But as everyone says when I bring that up, better safe than sorry.

Labels: Weather

Rita continues tracking eastward
Posted: 10:00:00 AM 0 comments

The latest NHC update is out, Rita's down to 135 MPH, still a cat 4 though. She's slowly tracking further and further eastward, now looking about 50 miles west of the Texas/Louisiana border. Good news for us, but bad news for New Orleans, as one of the repaired levies is flooding over as we speak. Could it possibly get any worse for them?

Labels: Weather

The Evacuation
Posted: 9:11:00 AM 1 comments

Surely you've seen and heard all of the news about traffic coming out of Houston gridlocked, people going 24 miles in 24 hours, and the nightmare of having now gas. I consider ourselves fortunate to beat it, but then again, we used a little trickiness, too.

To understand how we got out so fast (Ft. Worth in 10 hours), first understand the nature of I-45 north out of Houston. It starts off, including the HOV lane, not including the contraflow, as 8 lanes northbound. 50 miles north, that is reduced to 2. Traffic normally comes to a standstill on that freeway at times. Put half a million people on it, and you can clearly see the problem.

So, as we were leaving and saw the people that were taking 1 hour to get from US-59 to I-10 taking west I-610 north, I figured that, since I had the laptop and MapPoint with me, it would be easier to just use side roads.

And that's exactly what I did. From the I-610 feeder road, we took Post Oak north to Hempstead, and then took Antoine north to Kuykendahl. We took that into the Woodlands, and after snaking around the village, we crossed the highway on TX-242 and took FM-1314 into Conroe. We then hopped on US-75 in Conroe, taking it to New Waverly for our first stop.

After leaving New Waverly, we hit some real traffic for the first time going into Huntsville. We got on I-45 there, and made it to Centerville at 9 am, completing 6 hours of our trip. At that point, we decided to ditch I-45, taking TX-7 towards Waco.

We met up with Highway 6, figuring that would be a quick way into Waco. However, I had forgotten that was an evacuation route out of Houston and hit some more traffic. We got on I-35, hitting more traffic in Waco due to stupid drivers playing bumper cars, but after that it was smooth sailing. From I-35W after about 12 hours, we took I-20 west through Abeline. We finally got on US-84, taking it straight into Lubbock, finishing the 16 1/2 hour marathon.

Absolutely crazy. I've never seen more disabled cars than I did on I-45 going north. Gas stations were completely empty as far north as Huntsville. The Dairy Queen at TX-7 and TX-6 was out of CASH because they were giving out so much change. An SUV had "Houston, we have a problem" written on cardboard hanging from the back of it. And US-84 is the most boring drive, ever.

The important thing is that we made it out, and have other things to consider. Like what to get for breakfast.

Labels: Weather

Thursday, September 22, 2005

Lubbock
Posted: 9:49:00 PM 0 comments

After 16 1/2 hours of, well, lots of traffic and driving, we have arrived no worse for the journey at Jesse's place in Lubbock.

I've been up since 8:30 am Wednesday, biked two miles, sawed four pieces of plywood-ish type stuff, operated power tools (the true sign of masculinity!), lifted many heavy things up and down stairs, and otherwise worked myself into complete exhaustion. I'm taking a nap.

Rita, cat 4, 145 MPH, but it's tracking more north. NHC'll update in 15 minutes, I'll probably be asleep in 10. In the meantime, have at the current models. Sorry for the low res, I'm on a crappy monitor for the weekend.

Labels: Weather

One last leg
Posted: 5:30:00 PM 1 comments

We're just about ready for the three hour final leg into Lubbock. Wish us luck.

I've heard the track of Rita has changed significantly, but haven't been able to verify... Latest is cat 4, 145 MPH winds, and a pressure of 912 millibars.

Labels: Weather

Silly kitty
Posted: 2:23:00 PM 0 comments

So with Crystal locked up in the truck and scared out of her mind, she doesn't... "Go" very easily.

We found a Petsmart, and Kathy thought it wise to take her in there, get somethin disposable, and do her thing.

That was 20 minutes ago.

I can't imagine what's going through Crystal's mind at the moment, other than "TAKE ME HOME *NOW*!!". Poor kitty, if only she understood.

Labels: Weather

Ft. Worth
Posted: 2:00:00 PM 0 comments

Well, we've finally made it to Ft. Worth after taking a bit of a detour through Waco to avoid the craziness of I45.

I35 wasn't much better, but thankfully for different reasons. ie: idiot drivers.

Rita's down to a cat 4, 150 MPH winds, and 908 millibars of pressure. Still scary, I ain't gonna be near it.

Labels: Weather

Rita
Posted: 10:06:00 AM 1 comments

Keeping an ear on Rita, she's still a scary cat 5, with 165 MPH winds. The wind radius is at 85 miles for hurricane force, and 185 for tropical storm force winds. Scary stuff.

Enough from me, onward to Dallas. Check in again there.

Labels: Weather

Slow going
Posted: 6:43:00 AM 0 comments

First off, blogging via Blackberry sucks.

A late start, plus bad traffic, equals New Waverly, TX... Not very far at all. But the I45 traffic is all but gone this far out, and we'll probably hop back on in Huntsville.

Next update, Centerville! My favorite stop on the way to Dallas.

Labels: Weather

Destination: Lubbock
Posted: 1:03:00 AM 2 comments

Tons of thanks to my friend Jesse for allowing us to stay at his place in Lubbock. ETA of departure is 3 AM. I'll try and Blackberry a post from Dallas/Ft. Worth, and then once I get to Lubbock I'll check in again.

NHC 1 AM intermediate update says no change in Rita. She's still on track, 175 MPH sustained winds, 898 millibar pressure.

Labels: Weather

Latest models
Posted: 12:06:00 AM 0 comments

These are the latest models as of 8 pm. I don't think the blue line is realistic. The NHC track from 10 pm is in the middle of the other three. Obviously, this is much worse than the last update, and would absolutely kill Houston.

Speaking of kill, Rita is a killer with 175 MPH winds and a staggering pressure of 897 millibars.

Labels: Weather

Running Late
Posted: 12:02:00 AM 0 comments

So we got to Home Depot at 9:30 pm to find that the lumber that was there three hours earlier was gone. Completely gone. We found some strips of birch, and used two to plaster the windows with. By the time were done with that, it was 11:30 pm.

That said, we're probably not leaving till 2 am at this point, although it doesn't look like we'll be hitting Oklahoma City anymore. We're still weighing our options, and with a cat to consider that's not easy.

More to come soon.

Labels: Weather

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Hitting the Road
Posted: 8:12:00 PM 2 comments

As you no doubt can tell if you're a regular visitor, this ain't the regular site for my blog. The reason is we're hitting the road, and I wanted a place to be able to post information about me and Kathy while we are away.

Yes, we're getting the hell away from Rita. This map should explain fairly sufficiently why. We're dealing with the third strongest storm (by barometric pressure, currently 898 millibars or 26.52 inches) in recorded history.

I decided today to hit the road at midnight to minimize the time we're going to be in traffic in daylight. That said, we're probably going to hit quite a bit of it in the morning, I anticipate 12 hours to wherever we decide on going. I'll post that location before or as we leave.

Overreacting? There's a saying that you cannot overreact to a category 5 hurricane. Oklahoma City may get some of the storm, probably as a tropical storm, so I'm aiming for Amarillo. We'll see, and I'll be sure to keep you updated along the way.

Labels: Weather

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Full Hurricane Mode
Posted: 4:34:00 PM 0 comments

Since I've moved to Houston in the beginning of 1999, we've gotten a couple of close calls, and one not-so-close call from tropical weather. Tropical Storm Allison, which by the way came ashore on my 24th birthday, laid waste to much of Houston, putting it under water. I was fortunate enough to be spared from the worst of the flooding.

It might be post-Katrina nerves, but I have a feeling that we're not going to be quite as lucky this time with Rita. Rita is travelling south along a ridge of high pressure that is steering it to the west at a relative good pace. Once it hits the western Gulf of Mexico, it's anyone's guess as to what direction it can take. Models range from one border to the other, but all say the same thing: Texas.

For the second consecutive day, NHC is forecasting Rita to take the northerly turn and plow into Houston and its suburbs. It's still too early to say where it will go, as the average error of forecast at three days is 250 miles. However, the computer models they use are fairly confident that Galveston and Houston will be Rita's target of choice. Whether this actually happens, we won't know until probably Thursday, if not Friday.

To complicate matters, Rita is a moderate category 2 hurricane, which equates to 100 MPH winds. They are forecasting a category 3, and the leading computer model puts winds at 143 MPH, a very scary category 4, the same brand that sunk New Orleans just last month.

While we don't have the levy problem that New Orleans has, we still flash flood rather easily around. Add the possibility of 100+ MPH winds inland, and it's easy to see why Kathy and I will be high-tailing it out of Houston if the storm track doesn't change fast. In the event we do evacuate, I'll likely be taking my servers with me, so that I don't lose the data that I don't have backed up off-site.

That said, there's still a long time to landfall, and anything can happen. It's that bit of uncertainty, though, that forces me to err on the side of caution.

Labels: Weather

Monday, September 05, 2005

More Katrina
Posted: 4:12:00 PM 0 comments

Now playing: DRAX - Zarathustra - (3:27)

This before and after is Biloxi, MS. Of note is the building on the coast in the upper left which is entirely gone. The building in the lower left, however, had a somewhat better fate. It just blew across the street into a parking lot. Images are about 350 KB each.

Before
After

Labels: Weather

Sunday, September 04, 2005

Google Earth + NOAA + Katrina
Posted: 5:47:00 PM 0 comments

I did a before and after comparison of an image I was able to download from NOAA using Google Earth. In this shot, you will see the northern end of the city, along the shore of the lake there. The images are pretty huge, but the detail is worth it.

Before
After

Coincidentally, my brother was in New Orleans Sunday morning, but thankfully he got out. He sure is a lot luckier than the tens of thousands who didn't.

Labels: Weather