Ike strengthens, speeds up

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Ike strengthens, speeds up

Posted Friday, September 12, 2008

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Hurricane Ike has strengthened a little over the past few hours. It remains a Category Two storm, but its maximum sustained winds have increased to 110 mph. Water levels and waves continue to rise along the Texas Coast as the storm bears down on Galveston.

A hurricane warning remains in effect from Morgan City, LA to north of Port Aransas, including Brazoria County. Hurricane conditions are expected to reach the coast in only a few hours.

A tropical storm warning remains in effect from Port Aransas to Port Mansfield, and from east of Morgan City to the Mississippi-Alabama border.

At 6 p.m., the center of Ike was near Lat. 28.2 N. and Long. 93.8 W., or about 100 miles southeast of Galveston. Ike has moving between west-northwest and northwest, near 13 mph. A northwest motion is expected to continue tonight, with a turn to the north predicted Saturday. It should make landfall late tonight or early Saturday

Data from NOAA Doppler radar indicates Ike has become better organized, and could reach Category Three strength before landfall. The most recent minimum central pressure measured by an Air Force reconnaissance aircraft was 954 mb, 28.17 inches.

Coastal storm surge flooding up to 20 feet above normal tide levels is expected near and to the east of where Ike makes landfall, The surge extends farther than usual because of the storm’s size. Water levels have already risen 7 to 9 feet above normal along much of the northwestern Gulf Coast.

National Hurricane Center experts warn residents not to go outside in the eye of the storm, because the strongest winds and highest surge will likely occur near or just after the eye makes landfall.

Ike is expected to produce rainfall of 5 to 10 inches over eastern Texas and extreme southwestern Louisiana, and isolated tornadoes are possible today over portions of southern Louisiana and extreme southern Mississippi. Isolated tornadoes could occur tonight over southwestern Louisiana and southeastern Texas, including our area.