M Conder
EF0
Hi Jack,
I believe that the Texas Tech Hurricane team deployed one of their stick-net probes on Bolivar Penin. Hopefully they'll be able to retrieve the data at some point.
09L: Hurricane Ike
- Thread starter Greg Blumberg
- Start date
Hi Jack,
I believe that the Texas Tech Hurricane team deployed one of their stick-net probes on Bolivar Penin. Hopefully they'll be able to retrieve the data at some point.
cedwards
EF5
What kind of temp sensors are being used in TX? Check out these temperatures.
rdale
EF5
32F = 0C -- a non reporting sensor is being interpreted as 0 and it's "converting" that to F.
Jeff Snyder
EF5
32/32 may be what RDale is suggesting. You'll probably see some occassional 34/32 as well (such as the one near Beaumont, TX - on the right side of the image). That's more because the METARs are more complex than usual or are atypically-formatted. When I originally coded my METARs GRx placefile, I wasn't too worried about setting it up such that it would be able to decode every possible combination of pressure, temp, wind, auto-precip type sensing, cloud cover, etc. So, if you see a 34/32 reading, that's usually because there was a vital piece of the METAR missing or because there was a huge slew of info before the temp/dewpoint data. In this case, it was probably a bunch of info about precip being observed, cloud cover, etc. That also explains why the winds being displayed are much higher than they should be (I assume the winds displayed aren't actually those that were in the METAR). I've been meaning to make the script more robust to be able to deal with complex or atypical METAR reports, but I haven't had time to get around to it. Maybe I'll work on it tonigh, since it's a pain during extreme weather events when it seems that the script doesn't decode correctly quite often.
Short answer: the script isn't as robust in decoding METAR data as it should be.
B Ozanne
EF5
Don't take this wrong way, for many people in the region who lost their house or worse, this is a huge story. But what is THE big story for Ike? Is it too early, do we not know it yet? Is there a small community along the coast that was swept to the foundations?
As of right now, nothing stands out. The big story seems to be that the Galveston flood wall did its job. Yes, much of the city turned into a shallow lake, but it didn't turn into a raging river. I think I saw some aerials of Bolivar (sp?) totally covered in water. But most of the houses are on stilts, safely away from the surge.
As of right now, nothing stands out. The big story seems to be that the Galveston flood wall did its job. Yes, much of the city turned into a shallow lake, but it didn't turn into a raging river. I think I saw some aerials of Bolivar (sp?) totally covered in water. But most of the houses are on stilts, safely away from the surge.
HAltschule
EF5
Early reports suggest that 1000's of homes along the coast have been destroyed. Other reports are that 250,000 people are in need of rescue. These are all UNOFFICIAL reports and have not been confirmed. I would venturwe to guess that the worst destruction will be that of homes and structures. Media have not been able to get to the hardest hit areas yet and neither have emergency personell. Lets just hope that the reported 250,000 people stranded is extremely overinflated and that the death toll is very low and not in the thousands.
I think we will start seeing death toll rise and images of the "worst" damage sometime on Sunday when emergency crews and media reach the really hard hit areas.
B Ozanne
EF5
250,000 sounds inflated. That seems like the same number that didn't evacuate. And that shouldn't translate to: didn't evacuate = needs rescue.
I agree that we are still early though.
Edit: Just heard from a friend on another forum. Their relatives lost their home about 15 miles inland from Galveston. Water and wind damage to a trailer. Obviously a life changing event for them.
I agree that we are still early though.
Edit: Just heard from a friend on another forum. Their relatives lost their home about 15 miles inland from Galveston. Water and wind damage to a trailer. Obviously a life changing event for them.
Ryan McGinnis
EF5
Reports from Bolivar Penn are that the entire place is wiped off the map. People who were rescued via helicopter spoke of "walking four miles through surf" after their homes collapsed to get to a place where they wouldn't drown. One lady described floating on her second story stairwell like a piece of driftwood. I think the big story won't be Galveston (other than the fact that the seawall did a great job of knocking down a lot of the surge), but rather of the many communities on the North Texas and SW LA coast that we've yet to even hear from.
HAltschule
EF5
A Local Houston TV station just announced that they are receiving new pictures now of Crystal Beach and Gilchrist, TX (sp?) confirming rescued survivor reports that those towns were completely wiped out and everything was flattened. KHOU (on the top right window) here is supposed to be showing the new images shortly. http://www.maroonspoon.com/wx/ike.html
EDIT: Interesting. The backup power unit at KHOU just failed has shut down all news operations from the studio. All they have now are 2 reporters in the field trying to run the whole news show. The anchors and everyone else in the studio are no longer able to broadcast.
EDIT: Interesting. The backup power unit at KHOU just failed has shut down all news operations from the studio. All they have now are 2 reporters in the field trying to run the whole news show. The anchors and everyone else in the studio are no longer able to broadcast.
Heidi Farrar
EF3
- Joined
- Sep 26, 2007
- Messages
- 217
I camped on Crystal Beach (on the beach) for about a week 10 years ago. Here's a webpage with a sampling of what the place looks like.
http://www.bolivarchamber.org/CrystalBeach.aspx
I probably don't need to elaborate on the proximity of all of those houses to water.
http://www.bolivarchamber.org/CrystalBeach.aspx
I probably don't need to elaborate on the proximity of all of those houses to water.
HAltschule
EF5
Correction: "LookED like". I'm afraid that that entire area is likely destroyed based upon what i have heard so far.
Chris Allington
EF4
Things are still kind of coatic, the company I work for has 4 hotels in Houston and only one has been able to contact us and give us any information. They were told it could be as much as a month before power is restored.
Heidi Farrar
EF3
- Joined
- Sep 26, 2007
- Messages
- 217
Ryan McGinnis
EF5
To be fair, the media has been quarantined from the S&R areas, which is why you haven't seen many photos from the more heavily impacted areas.
*edit* Though, the Houston Chronicle has an amazing slideshow from Galveston.
MClarkson
EF5
"Is there a small community along the coast that was swept to the foundations?"
yup...
these come from KHOU and are from some section of Bolivar Peninsula. We knew this was what was going to be found when the aerial photos came in, but still, when I actually see it for the first time... the epic storm surge that wipes foundations clean... its a little shocking, even though we knew it had happened. Theres nothing left of most of those homes. Not even even debris.
A few more photos can be seen here...
http://www.storm2k.org/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=102847&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=13080http://www.storm2k.org/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=102847&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=13080
yup...
these come from KHOU and are from some section of Bolivar Peninsula. We knew this was what was going to be found when the aerial photos came in, but still, when I actually see it for the first time... the epic storm surge that wipes foundations clean... its a little shocking, even though we knew it had happened. Theres nothing left of most of those homes. Not even even debris.
A few more photos can be seen here...
http://www.storm2k.org/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=102847&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=13080http://www.storm2k.org/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=102847&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=13080
