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Hurricane Harvey

Started by Stephane Dumas, August 27, 2017, 12:43:30 PM

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Roadgeekteen

God-emperor of Alanland, king of all the goats and goat-like creatures

Current Interstate map I am making:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?hl=en&mid=1PEDVyNb1skhnkPkgXi8JMaaudM2zI-Y&ll=29.05778059819179%2C-82.48856825&z=5


jwolfer

Quote from: sparker on August 28, 2017, 12:40:53 PM
Historically, storms & hurricanes coming in from the Gulf have tended to head straight inland on the path of least resistance -- one of the river valleys (Brazos, Guadalupe, Nueces) and dissipate the farther away from the Gulf they got.  But Harvey's so slow that it's picking up water from the lower river areas and wetlands near the Gulf, and moving sideways as it picks up moisture on one side or the other; hence its original landfall near Rockport followed by a lateral move NE toward Houston, "feeding" itself all the while.  Whereas the "old" (historical) paths were somewhat predictable (going upriver from landfall), allowing evacuation patterns to emanate outward from that path, Harvey has rendered any semblance of predictability unreliable, as it could conceivably go anywhere from its current location; it's not moving fast enough in any particular direction to establish a calculable trajectory.  It also might well stay where it is until it eventually peters out -- it's got plenty of water to feed it with Galveston Bay and its associated branches as well as within the lower Brazos area.  We'll just have to see what happens over the next 5-7 days!
In the past a tropical storm.. Allison if recall stalled out over Houston dumping tons of rain.. So this has happened before.. It will happen again.

A few years ago a front dumped 20+ inches of rain in the Florida panhandle.. No where has infrastructure to handle that  much of rain...



LGMS428


bing101


triplemultiplex

What a deluge.
For comparison, where I live in Wisconsin, we get about 34 inches of precipitation per year.  And southeast Texas just got more than that in a couple days.  This flood will make its mark in the geologic record for that area.
"That's just like... your opinion, man."

sparker

Interestingly, the projected path of Harvey inland more or less follows the future I-69 alignment at least as far as south-central Arkansas; from there the "eye" is supposed to more or less follow US 79 and then US 49 all the way into the boot of Missouri before petering out.  Guess it will follow the infamous "Dickey Split" for much of its travel!  But seriously -- when this sort of storm goes inland, watch out for swarms of tornadoes!

Stephane Dumas

Bridges and roads in Houston are starting to fail under stress. http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFL2N1LF1GL

1995hoo

"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

Perfxion

Knowing how high up these signs are just chilling. Plus facebook videos of areas 10 to 12 feet deep in water....crazy
5/10/20/30/15/35/37/40/44/45/70/76/78/80/85/87/95/
(CA)405,(NJ)195/295(NY)295/495/278/678(CT)395(MD/VA)195/495/695/895

bing101

http://kfdm.com/news/local/body-found-floating-in-beaumont

Update a local TV station is reporting another dead due to Harvey.

hm insulators

Best wishes to everybody going through this major disaster. It's going to take years to clean up this mess. This might make Katrina look like an afternoon thundershower.
Remember: If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.

I'd rather be a child of the road than a son of a ditch.


At what age do you tell a highway that it's been adopted?

wxfree

This is a neat photo.  It isn't as deep as the water above, but it's churned up by the storm's winds.  This is on I-10.



http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/30/us/interstate-10-photo-harvey-trnd/index.html
I'd like to buy a vowel, Alex.  What is E?

wxfree

Here's the storm total.  The scale tops out at 25 inches, but there are reports of more than 50.  Essentially all of Harris County had more than 25 inches.  Galveston, Chambers, Liberty, Hardin, Jefferson, and Orange Counties are entirely covered in white.  More than half of Jasper County and just about all of Tyler County are, too.  Beyond this, all the way up to Bryan and Lufkin there are 18 inch totals, which in most storms would be extreme.

Interestingly, out over the Gulf, where it wouldn't hurt anyone, the totals are much less.  I know a little about meteorology, and I can't think of any reason why the heaviest rain would be over land.  The outer bands often produce tornadoes over land because of the lower-level winds being impeded, which reduces the Coriolis effect and changes the direction, which introduces shear and can produce horizontal vortex tubes that can be verticalized and stretched by convective currents to form tornadoes.  I've never paid to see if tropical storms usually drop more rain over land.  This one does seem to have stayed stronger over Texas than a landfallen storm usually does because it was feeding off its own rainfall, what Wikipedia calls the "brown ocean effect."  I remember John Hope long ago talking about Danny getting stronger over land as it approached the ocean, and surmising that it was due to this effect.

I'd like to buy a vowel, Alex.  What is E?

bing101


wxfree

There's a somewhat emotional forecast discussion from the Houston NWS office:

"Today marks the first step in a journey of many, many steps back towards normalcy in our area after the onslaught of Harvey. In the east, some lingering rain from Harvey`s back edge remains this afternoon. Otherwise, we have no rain, and the sun is beginning to break through from west to east. A lack of rain is an infinitesimal, but more than deserved prize for the large number of dedicated first responders, dispatchers, and volunteers who have put in so many hours of hard work under terrible conditions to help the citizens of Southeast Texas."

http://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=HGX&issuedby=HGX&product=AFD&format=CI&version=1&glossary=1

The link will work temporarily.  The archive will move progressively back as new discussions are issued.  They're no longer online when they fall off the end of the 50 links.
I'd like to buy a vowel, Alex.  What is E?

1995hoo

Quote from: wxfree on August 30, 2017, 05:04:10 PM
This is a neat photo.  It isn't as deep as the water above, but it's churned up by the storm's winds.  This is on I-10.



http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/30/us/interstate-10-photo-harvey-trnd/index.html

Indeed it is....  :biggrin:

Quote from: 1995hoo on August 30, 2017, 07:29:13 AM
Our NBC affiliate's weatherman retweeted this:

http://twitter.com/dadephelan/status/902683973696065536
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

bing101

http://abc13.com/incident-at-crosby-plant-not-explosion-authorities-say/2355735/

A chemical plant is facing an environmental disaster but that's still being determined here over how much damage Harvey made to the plant.

wxfree

The Weather Prediction Center (a weird name, since the whole NWS is about weather prediction; I liked the old name, Hydrometeorogical Prediction Center) has compiled a list of rainfall totals and wind records.  The highest rainfall measured was at Cedar Bayou at FM 1942 and was 51.88 inches.  There's quite a list with more than 40.  The highest wind speed was 132 mph near Port Aransas.  (It says "PORT ARANSAS 2 ENE" which means 2 miles east-northeast of town.)

http://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/tropical/tropical_advisories.php?storm=HARVEY&adnum=46&dt=2017083121&status=td

I'm linking to this address because I think it's permanent.  A couple of other links look like ones that simply go to the latest advisory.
I'd like to buy a vowel, Alex.  What is E?

bing101


Stephane Dumas


wxfree

#44
This is really neat: aerial photos of the flooding.

https://storms.ngs.noaa.gov/storms/harvey/index.html
I'd like to buy a vowel, Alex.  What is E?

Brandon

Quote from: Stephane Dumas on August 31, 2017, 08:33:13 PM
More worrying is the upcoming of another hurricane named Irma. http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-08-31/irma-turning-monster-hurricane-highest-windspeed-forecasts-ive-ever-seen

Who knows what will happen with Irma.  Many storms have gotten big out there, yet peter out before they get here, or the make a turn and go north.  There's a chance Irma could go into the Caribbean or Gulf, but it's too far out to predict.
"If you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention." - Ramsay Bolton

"Symbolic of his struggle against reality." - Reg

1995hoo

Quote from: Stephane Dumas on August 31, 2017, 08:33:13 PM
More worrying is the upcoming of another hurricane named Irma. http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-08-31/irma-turning-monster-hurricane-highest-windspeed-forecasts-ive-ever-seen

As of yesterday morning, there was also another low-pressure system located just off the Yucatán in the Gulf that had the potential to become another tropical system that could hit Texas. Ugh.
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

wxfree

Quote from: wxfree on August 31, 2017, 11:59:11 PM
This is really neat: aerial photos of the flooding.

https://storms.ngs.noaa.gov/storms/harvey/index.html

On I-69 just north of the bridge over the West Fork San Jacinto River between BW 8 and SH 99, it looks like the divider is a single piece, and it was bent downstream by the water.  It broke at Sorters McClellan Road where presumably the bridge columns held it in place.  This is the only visible road damage I've found in the new photographs.  I-10 appears to have mud on it at the San Jacinto River.  Even if there's no damage, which may not be visible in the photos, that would need to be cleaned off.  The only major road that's still flooded that I saw is the Sam Houston Tollway just south of I-10 on the west side.  At the time of the photo, 2 lanes on each side of I-10 just below the Addicks were covered, but traffic was moving.
I'd like to buy a vowel, Alex.  What is E?

formulanone

Quote from: Brandon on September 01, 2017, 06:18:04 AM
Quote from: Stephane Dumas on August 31, 2017, 08:33:13 PM
More worrying is the upcoming of another hurricane named Irma. http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-08-31/irma-turning-monster-hurricane-highest-windspeed-forecasts-ive-ever-seen

Who knows what will happen with Irma.  Many storms have gotten big out there, yet peter out before they get here, or the make a turn and go north.  There's a chance Irma could go into the Caribbean or Gulf, but it's too far out to predict.

Since there's been fake images of the storm's track (only spaghetti models exist 12 days out, but cones do not), here's one from NOAA:



That said, I have to go Miami next week. Already had to high-tail it out of San Antonio last week...

Desert Man

They call Hurricane/Tropical storm Harvey the worst natural disaster in US history since... Hurricane Katrina breaks the earth levees to flood New Orleans in Aug 2005...or the San Francisco earthquake/fire in Apr 1906 ... and even the great Chicago Fire of Oct 1871. Flooding in the US' 4th largest city, Houston, was epic - 5 days of endless rain in a prone flood basin. And Louisiana wasn't spared, they recall Rita in Sep. 2005 along the Tex-Lou state line, while Houston is vividly reminded of tropical storm Allison in June 2001.
Get your kicks...on Route 99! Like to turn 66 upside down. The other historic Main street of America.



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