On Fri, 12 Sep 2008, xponentrob wrote:
> "Hurricane Ike is closing in on Texas, and stands poised to become one
> of the most damaging hurricanes of all time. Despite Ike's rated
> Category 2 strength, the hurricane is much larger and more powerful than
> Category 5 Katrina or Category 5 Rita. The storm surge from Ike could
> rival Katrina's, inundating a 200-mile stretch of coast from Galveston
> to Cameron, Louisiana with waters over 15 feet high. This massive storm
> surge is due to the exceptional size of Ike. According to the latest
> wind field estimate (Figure 1), the diameter of Ike's tropical storm and
> hurricane force winds are 550 and 240 miles, respectively. For
> comparison, Katrina numbers at landfall were 440 and 210 miles,
> respectively. As I discussed in yesterday's blog entry, a good measure
> of the storm surge potential is Integrated Kinetic Energy (IKE). Ike
> continues to grow larger and has intensified slightly since yesterday,
> and the hurricane's Integrated Kinetic Energy has increased from 134 to
> 149 Terajoules. This is 30% higher than Katrina's total energy at
> landfall. All this extra energy has gone into piling up a vast storm
> surge that will probably be higher than anything in recorded history
> along the Texas coast. Storm surge heights of 20-25 feet are possible
> from Galveston northwards to the Louisiana border. The Texas storm surge
> record is held by Hurricane Carla of 1961. Carla was a Category 4
> hurricane with 145 mph winds at landfall, and drove a 10 foot or higher
> storm surge to a 180-mile stretch of Texas coast. A maximum storm surge
> of 22 feet was recorded at Port Lavaca, Texas."
OK, I'm going to do one more thing that *has* to be done before 5:30, and
then I'm going to start hauling toys & furniture into the garage. The
last thing I need is something thrown through a window again.
Julia
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