How big is IKE? Takes up almost ALL of the Gulf of Mexico - ALL OF IT

[LynneSin]

http://www.weather.com/weather/map/interactive/?zoom=5&lat=25&long=-86&interactiveMapLayer=sat&plot=true&animation=true&from=hp_news

[BronxBoy]

1. My God

That's a big ass hurricane

[LynneSin]

4. They say when Ike makes landfall it's impact will be felt all the way up to to OK border

:scared:

[BronxBoy]

5. Sending

prayers and good vibes to those stuck in the path.

Be safe

[ogneopasno]

9. I heard on our NPR affiliate that it will affect weather up here in MN

by pulling cold air down from Canada early. I mean, it's going to affect everything. It's a monster.

[myrna minx]

21. Wow. What kind of weather did they say we can expect?

THis summer has been so strange in MInnesota.

[ogneopasno]

24. Cooler, sooner.

Of course, we've had a few frosts anyway...I'm guessing our Indian Summer might be short-lived.

[BattyDem]

2. DAMN!

:scared:

[mattomjoe]

3. That is unreal.

Man....

[iamjoy]

6. The Storm Surge...

Some are saying the storm surge from Ike could be worse than the one from the storm in 1900 that killed 6,000.

For those unable or too stubborn to evacuate...

If you are a praying person, it is time to do that now. I don't know if prayer will do any good when the waters are over the seawall and still coming (there's a joke about a man waiting for God to save him from a flood, which may be too close to the current reality to be funny now).

I think Obama and Biden need to back off the politics for the next few days. They need to go to church instead. Praying may or may not help those people in Galveston and the low lying coastal areas of Texas, but the last thing we need is for our guys to appear insensitive - playing politics while citizens drown.

[LynneSin]

7. I'm sure Obama and Biden have plans for the Hurricane

:D

[tpsbmam]

15. And the last thing I want our potential president doing is

spending critical times in church praying -- I count on them to take action, not pray it'll get better. We've been there, done that. Sadly in our present culture, it's always good for them to be seen attending church (despite the fact Bush doesn't) and now wouldn't be a bad time to be seen going but my greater concern is that they be seen to be competent and, of course, caring. They got this during Gustav -- there's no reason to believe this will be any different.

[Not the Only One]

16. Prayer is pointless

If you actually believe in God, it's obvious that his will is to rip Texas and the whole gulf region a new one. All you can do is learn to swim-- just like the folks in Noah's day. When God decides to slaughter civilizations, he does it. No praying will make a difference.

Obama and Biden should talk about what the government is doing or not regarding preparations and post-Hurricane activities.

[ComplimentarySwine]

8. I'm in the DFW area

so far, it's bright and sunny here. I wonder how bad it's really going to get this far north?

[RoyGBiv]

13. Put it this way ...

While sitting here figuring out if I'm secured away enough to survive up to two weeks without power, I watched a report on local Houston news about the extent of the power outages and damage.

Southern Dallas county is currently being predicted as the terminus of the swath of power interruptions. So, as far as that goes, you should be fine. But you'll know there's a massive storm running overhead.

[Hugabear]

19. BAD

You're probably not going to get nearly the winds that the Gulf Coast will get, but you'll get plenty of rain, quite a bit of it. I'm sure there will be a few tornados to go along with that.

I saw a forecast yesterday that still showed Ike as a Cat 1 or 2 as it passed over DFW.

[Virginia Dare]

23. Wow, a cat 1 or 2 for a major city is BAD...

this monster is likely to spawn multiple big tornadoes as well. This is a huge disaster in the making.

[a la izquierda]

28. My husband said weather folks in OKC...

said to prepare for possible flooding in the OKC metro area...so go figure. It's been raining a lot it the metro, so whatever Ike brings Oklahoma City is unwelcome I would imagine. Ya'll are probably going to get a bunch of rain.

[LanternWaste]

10. I'm wondering if the cold front just to the NW...

I'm wondering if the cold front just to the NW of D/FW will have any effect on Ike when they eventually meet. :shrug:

Even as far north as D/FW, we're being told to expect major power outages in many areas. And the nutty thing is, as fast as we're told it'll be here (in D/FW), we're told it will move past us just as fast and by Sunday afternoon, the only remnants will be scattered showers (that was as of the weather report on my local news this morning at 5:30).

Although I'm not big tracking on hurricanes and floods, I'm actually keeping myself aware re: Ike. He seems pretty big and pretty unpredictable.

But still-- those of you in North Texas: rainfall is predicted to be from 3"-6" with wind gusts up to 65mph.

For myself, I'm going to stay hunkered down in my apartment for the weekend hope everyone takes all appropriate precautions...

[ddeclue]

11. Great spot of Jupiter big???

or at least for earth it's pretty damned big...

[Sabriel]

14. The Jupiter one is the size of 3 Earths, I think.

So this one's not so bad. But bad enough!

[ddeclue]

17. I know but I was just making a joke...

[Sabriel]

20. Sorry! I'm a little slow today. n/t

[jannyk]

12. On TWC this am - said it was 900 miles across!! n/t

[SoCalDem]

18. Yesterday, there were two tropical waves coming across the Atlantic

any news on them yet??

[LynneSin]

26. One of them is a leftover of Josephine

She started to form, faded out and is building again.

Another one off a Cape Verde

[jakem]

22. IKE is the reason why Waldo is hiding.

# IKE counted to infinity - twice.

# There is no chin behind IKE’s beard. There is only another fist.

# When IKE does a pushup, he isn’t lifting himself up, he’s pushing the Earth down.

# IKE is so fast, he can run around the world and punch himself in the back of the head.

# IKE’s hand is the only hand that can beat a Royal Flush.

# IKE can lead a horse to water AND make it drink.


--------------

We all know the secret identity of IKE now, don't we...?

(note: get the f*ck out of there if you are in the path!)

[ddeclue]

30. Funny!

:rofl:

[RedLetterRev]

25. I've driven from Austin to Baton Rouge

many, many a time. I've lived in both. (I miss Austin terribly, always will. They can have Baton Rouge.)

For folks that don't realize, that's about an 8-hour trip, generally. Once you get outside Houston, going east on I-10, it's just about a solid wall of refineries from just east of Houston over to where I-10 meets Lake Charles, LA. I haven't been down along the water in SW Louisiana, but I understand the refineries are just as thick there. Ike's impact will be just about as strong right there, too.

Now look at that radar image in the linkie above and see where the most purple (the most intense part of the storm) is.

Yup. Headed right for that solid wall of refineries. That most intese part of the storm just about covers the whole area.

Think on that for a minute and figure why gas has gone up $.50 since this past Monday. (At least here in NC, it has.)

Then think of the environmental impact of a huge since most of those refineries are right ass-up on the water.

This is some really bad shit, in terms of human life, property damage, and the economy. We're already hurting from hairy wild-ass speculation and hairy wild-ass exportation of crude and refined petroleum products. (Sniffs Bushco and friends, "so who needs regulation when consumers are willing to pay out the ass?")

These are things they don't tell you on the news and most people don't realize just how thick the refineries are along the Big Bend. There are an awful lot of people there who work in those refineries and an awful lot of people who support them.

Y'never hear about it, but they're there. And they've got a hold of a right-smart of our economy.

----

Oh, and the person in Dallas... I lived in Florida a long time, too, before I finally moved back home to NC. (BTW, I used to live in Garland and worked in Richardson at Perot Systems.) Some of the prettiest skies you'll ever see are right "around" a hurricane. It sucks the moisture and heat away into itself, leaving everything around it just as pretty and pleasant as you'll ever experience.

Then wham!!! all hell breaks loose.

Been there, done that. That's why I went back to NC. I remember Floyd, Georges and a few others. Had 'nuff.

[JCMach1]

27. Latest update is looking really bad for Galveston/Houston

and Port Arthur... 13 refineries shut down per MSNBC.

[vanderBeth]

29. That's bigger than a lot of countries!

:scared:

[erpowers]

31. 40 Percent of the Gulf of Mexico

Today one of the news channels it was mentioned that Hurricane Ike is taking up 40 percent of the Gulf of Mexico.