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Thunderstorms & A Hurricane

This evening, thunderstorms have been ongoing in some of our Northern counties... which are under a SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH until 11pm. We have had winds in excess of 60 mph and quarter-sized hail reported with some of these cells. Here is a look from the Plaza, looking north. You can see the thunderstorm clouds in the distance:

Click to enlarge

Now take a look at the RADAR IMAGE from this evening:

Did you notice the outflow boundaries? I'll point them out below:

Rain cooled air from the thunderstorms NORTHWEST of KC created the boundary on the LEFT... and rain cooled air from the thunderstorms to the NORTHEAST of KC created the boundary on the RIGHT. Where they meet... well, we could see more thunderstorm development, as it is an area of convergence. The good news for those of you that DON'T want the rain... is that most of the thunderstorm activity is WEAKENING right now. Soooo we'll watch it this evening... still about a 30% chance!

Now... on to the story that EVERYone is talking about. Hurricane Katrina! It is now a Category 5 hurricane, with winds in excess of 160mph. Here is the latest satellite image... click on it to see the LOOP:

I am absolutely AMAZED by this storm. It is SO strong and SO big. Hurricane force winds (in excess of 74 mph) extend out 105 miles from Katrina's center!

No real change in the storm's projected path... still aiming at Southeast Louisiana... to the Mississippi coast. It is difficult to say *exactly* where the storm will make landfall... but all of these communities are under the gun. Storm surge is forecast to be anwhere from 18 to 22 FEET above normal levels. And some spots could see a 28 foot storm surge. This is going to be a devastating landfall, wherever that ends up being. By the way, landfall is expected early Monday morning. Brett Anthony will track the storm during NBC Action News Today, starting at 5am!

Jamie

Posted by at August 28, 2005 6:47 PM

Comments

Posted by: Tom at August 28, 2005 9:27 PM