Hurricane Isaac (2012)

[Jeff Turner]

TWC - The Weathertainment Channel at work doing what it is always does these days.

 

[Jeff Turner]

Lol, when I lived back in NJ, there's a part of town that floods if someone sneezed in the Passaic River.. So there was this one storm that was supposed to be really bad but ended up not.. But the news needed to make it look really bad.. so they set up a shot where the reporter was in a little rowboat and the perspective made it look like the water was pretty deep.

So she's paddling her boat going on about the "massive widespread flooding" when a couple guys walked right through the shot - revealing that the water was a little more than ankle deep.. it was hysterical.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy SII using Tapatalk

Like all of the folks who say storm damage is a "war zone". I recall the TWC in Galveston post-Ike standing in front of a pile of debris east of the Flagship Pier. They made some similar stupid comment about the "widespread destruction" on the seawall. Well, my daughter lives there and when we took her back the seawall was the most intact area. A lot of it was virtually untouched unlike the interior behind the seawall which was badly torn up in many but not all places. If it is not the end of the world no ratings so they overblow a lot of things all of the time and the uninformed sheeple viewers who never see such things first hand are spellbound and watch.

 

[WillTownsWx]

All the Katrina comparisons are causing confusions. My friend who isn't a Meteorologist called me yesterday saying "Dude its Katrina all over again"

 

[Matt Tottle]

I went and found the clip for your entertainment.. What's even funnier is that the very same day they were lambasting the white house for staging a group Q&A between Bush and some soldiers (which is standard procedure)..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRRMV_nDBt4

 

[Justin Wiley]

The fifth costliest hurricane in US history IIRC, in terms of damage. Killed, what, 50 people in the US?

I'm not trying to downplay property damage or loss of life. That is tragic. Any tropical storm that impacts the northeast will likely be a costly storm, even if, in reality, it doesn't cause widespread destruction. Obviously, the population plays a role in that. The way TWC and other media outlets played up Irene, it sure seemed like Katrina-type situations were gonna occur, with hundreds, if not, thousands of deaths likely. You have to admit it was overblown, specifically by TWC.

Isaac still isn't a hurricane. Yes, I'm aware tropical storms can cause serious problems, particularly on the rainfall front. However, the whole Katrina bombs that were constantly being dropped finally made me turn it off. I haven't watched any hurricane coverage now for a solid 2 days.

 

[Stuart Robinson]

The sad fact is more people died in TS Stan (1,500 alone over Guatemala) just 4 weeks after Katrina made landfall back in 2005.

 

[RMacDonald]

This is what I currently tracking Several Cities in the high threat dangers. Boothville-looking for wind to gust up to 50mph from 12Z, then gusts up to 60mph around 23Z, then wind gusts up around 80mph from 29th at 07Z onward. Seeing a couple of heavy periods of rain, 17Z-01Z, and 09Z-14Z. Rainfall accumulations of 3.43” through 29/10Z. Mobile and Keesler area looking at winds 35-45 through 21Z, then increasing 60-70mph 00Z-10Z, with peak gusts around 75mph. New Orleans area tracking winds increasing to 35-45 from 14Z to 23Z, then increasing to 50-60 past 23Z, peak winds looking at 64mph right now. Looking at 4.4” of rain accumulation through 29th at 10Z.

 

[Jake Orosi]

I'm not trying to downplay property damage or loss of life. That is tragic. Any tropical storm that impacts the northeast will likely be a costly storm, even if, in reality, it doesn't cause widespread destruction. Obviously, the population plays a role in that. The way TWC and other media outlets played up Irene, it sure seemed like Katrina-type situations were gonna occur, with hundreds, if not, thousands of deaths likely. You have to admit it was overblown, specifically by TWC.

Isaac still isn't a hurricane. Yes, I'm aware tropical storms can cause serious problems, particularly on the rainfall front. However, the whole Katrina bombs that were constantly being dropped finally made me turn it off. I haven't watched any hurricane coverage now for a solid 2 days.

I don't recall TWC predicting hundreds or thousands of deaths. They did predict major flooding in the NYC metro area, which did not materialize there but further upstate instead. And it was major flooding; several roads were washed away leaving a couple of towns without any kind of access by wheel.

Katrina comparisons are inevitable; Isaac makes landfall today which is precisely the 7th anniversary of Katrina, and in almost exactly the same spot. It is much weaker; but I think the news and TWC have done a fair job of conveying that the city is more prepared this time and not as much damage is expected.

 

[Stan Rose]

The biggest problem right now is that everyone seems oblivious to the obvious westward track. They keep saying it's just 'temporary'. That may be the case, but it doesn't take a genius to see that the eye will pass west of NO--it's Lake Charles to Pt Arthur that are in trouble--if it keeps on west it's gonna be over water a much longer time.

 

[Stan Rose]

hmmm...no change in the official track, guess they're discounting the 12Z NAM! And SFMR be damned, it sure looks like a hurricane to me.
EDIT: Ok, last three vis images show a distinct turn to the north...

 

[Robert Rohloff]

HURRICANE IT IS............

HURRICANE ISAAC TROPICAL CYCLONE UPDATE
NWS NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL092012
1120 AM CDT TUE AUG 28 2012

...RECONNAISSANCE DATA INDICATE ISAAC FINALLY ACHIEVES HURRICANE
STATUS...

REPORTS FROM AN AIR FORCE RESERVE HURRICANE HUNTER AIRCRAFT
INDICATE THAT MAXIMUM WINDS ASSOCIATED WITH ISAAC HAVE INCREASED
TO 75 MPH...120 KM/H. ON THIS BASIS...ISAAC IS BEING UPGRADED TO
A HURRICANE.

SUMMARY OF 1120 AM CDT...1620 UTC...INFORMATION
-----------------------------------------------
LOCATION...28.1N 88.6W
ABOUT 75 MI...115 KM SSE OF THE MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER
ABOUT 160 MI...250 KM SE OF NEW ORLEANS LOUISIANA
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...75 MPH...120 KM/H
PRESENT MOVEMENT...NW OR 310 DEGREES AT 10 MPH...17 KM/H
MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE...975 MB...28.79 INCHES

 

[Eddie Natenberg]

For Anyone interested. I am running a special 4km run for hurricane Isaac. It produces a 16 hour forecast every 2 hours.

http://products-db.meso.com/openplots/STORM/

Enjoy,
Eddie

 

[cstrunk]

It's pretty neat to watch this hurricane stall right on the coast line . I just looped the N.O. radar and it literally has not moved. It will be interesting to see how long it can keep its intensity and what happens when it starts to move again. Will it continue its westward drift or will it move north onto land and weaken? Either way, SE LA is in for a long night. Flooding will be a major issue.

 

[Andy Jackson]

Jeff & Kathryn Piotrowski are documenting some levee overflow (failure?) in the New Orleans area:
Watch video >

 

[Jake Orosi]

Plaquemines Parish is outside the new post-Katrina levy system in New Orleans. That parish stated before the storm hit that it expected its southernmost levees to be overtopped by the 12-20 storm surge; it is as far as I know the only parish that declared a mandatory evacuation, for that reason.