IKE still effecting many!!

Due to IKE... some areas around here have been without power since Sunday... & now they're saying it may be until this coming Sunday before it's restored!

Fortunately, my house never lost power. A few neighbors have... and so have my mother-in-law and brother-in-law... both of their places are without power. (B.I.L. has 4 kids to entertain & so they got a generator tonight!!) Neighbors have generators running as well.

My heart, thoughts & prayers go out to all who have been effected by this monster of a storm!!

Taking a break from Ike coverage...

It was a long weekend to say the least. Today when I thought I'd get the chance to sleep with no interruption, my hubby came home in between going to different factories, he woke me to fill out some form for medical insurance. Oh well, it was 10:30a.m. anyway...

It wouldn't have been so bad had I not been up so late last night. (Don't ask! Little of this & a little of that!!) Anyway... I ended up getting a package in the mail today, that I had been waiting for a LONG time... (It was mailed on July 7th!!) ... It was from our Australian friend Caghs (aka Kitty)!! As you can see by the picture... It was of some GOODIES!!

I was hoping to post a video of my reaction just after I unwrapped the little containers of Milo (it's like Nestle's Cocoa... or Ovaltine.) & saw the Aussie flag, (Thanks again Kitty!!)... but... well... there's a little problem with the site I'm using to upload the video. If I wasn't so tired, I'd keep trying... but twice was enough for me right now.

It's too long of a video to post to YouTube or even directly here on Multiply... I'll just wait until JumpCut is working properly again.


Anyway, at least I have pictures... Better yet, I HAVE MY TIM TAMS!!!!

I'm not the least bit excited!

As for the Ike coverage... I'm not through with that either... I have several videos to share... I will post them soon as I can get them to upload. (Maybe a day or so.)

That's it for this ride. Enjoy your Monday!!

more TWC videos about IKE

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

I sure hope these links will take you right to the videos that I think are the best from the coverage during Hurricane IKE.

On this one, I believe are setting up to do a live shot, when Jim Cantore is hollering "Heads up."


At least Mike Bettis can laugh at himself! ... & Thankfully he was standing right next to bushes!! LOL.

This guy... well, I feel for him... I was watching this one Live when they interviewed him.

If you see the list to the right of the above videos... it's worth going through looking at each of them... or most of them. (You'll have to look at the titles, though, to make sure they're from Ike... unless you want to watch other related videos!) :o)

TWC's Stephanie Abrahms & Cantore, have a couple video blogs in the list.

Happy viewing! :)

Just a big ol' wind bag

Ike is just a big ol' wind bag... at least for us here in Mid-Ohio... Quite windy. I have to make this quick... because we might loose power... & if we do... I doubt I'll have internet connection.

Anyway... I have another link for you... this is to Weather Underground... this shows current wind speed... well, at least it was... I don't know if one of the Personal Weather Stations (PWS) went off line or what... because it's been a couple hours since it's updated. I was watching it a little bit & I saw one gust register at 31.1 mph... (ok... now I see there was a gust of 47mph... That's Tropical storm force!!!)

Uh... it's starting to get really bad here now... I going to go find my shoes... & be ready to head to the basement. If we hear anything. Ok.. whew... just one big gust for the moment. Scary... I should close the drapes! LOL

I know it's NO WHERE near what my friend Amy went through the other night!! Still... I don't like wind like this!!

Well... I was going to post a video... but it will have to wait.

Storm Pulse that I had been using hasn't updated since earlier today. But you can see that Ike is going to be around for a while!

HERE'S THE VIDEO from earlier... before the really big gusts hit!

Ike is now a TS & heading right for OHIO

The coverage via TWC last night was very interesting to watch. I was glued to the TV until I zonk out. (Shortly after landfall around 3:30a.m.) Good news is Galveston is now in the clear (for the most part)... The bad news, for me... is, now a tropical storm... IKE is heading right for Ohio... It's expected to be here tomorrow at this time. We will not feel NO WHERE near as the winds in which our Texas counterparts felt over the night. Still there is the threat of tornadoes. EEKS!!

Be sure to check out my Nature Photo Album. I have all kinds of screen shots of the satellites & radars. I'll add maybe a few more later on as the storm approaches Ohio. I will also try to find some photos of the waves & etc.

I still have yet to hear from my dear dear friend Amy... I am worried... however, I'm thinking they may not have cell phone service right now. I'm sure she will call or sign on to let us know soon as she can!

Anyway, I am heading off to a "ball" on SL (Second Life)... Yeah, I am still playing on SL... I have a family now... Well, you all know them!... MamaDi, is our mom; Caghs is my sister; Katha is my aunt... & Kartor is DaddyK.

I will try to post some video of the previous Queen's Ball we went to later on... & I'll post more on it then!

*Choo Choo* (that's my wave bye bye now!)

Hurricane Ike updates

From space, Hurricane Ike is a beautiful site. (Photo from Yahoo Photos.) However, it's an ugly & deadly storm on land.

I am involved in this hurricane more than usual, because my very dear friend, Amy (aka Autumn) is right in Ike's path. Don't worry, she & her family has evacuated. She has been calling me every so often & last I talked to her (around 7:30p) they were not getting any rain yet, however, it was very windy. And they have not lost power.... YET!

My heart, thoughts & prayers are with all those that may be in harms way.

P.S. I have added even more photos to my "Nature Album".

The almost PERFECT storm

Even though Hurricane Ike may only be a Cat 2 (at the moment! Winds are only 5 mph away from being a Cat 3!!!)... but it's wind field is much wider than Katrina! Being over 200 miles South East of Galveston, Tx... they are already receiving 17ft waves at the coast.
(Picture is from last night, when it was over 400 miles away.)

In watching TWC's Jim Cantore's live report from the area... I saw anger! "They don't know what they are dealing with!"... Because there are people NOT heeding their warnings. (If you click the link & it doesn't go directly to that report... then scroll down the list on the right.. & Look for the title being his underline quote above.)

Not only are the residents of Galveston not evacuating... but many are going to the coast & driving down the boardwalk road. It is being hammered with waves & starting to bring debris up & across the road! Some are actually out standing at the wall & getting hit with the waves & getting knocked over. Cantore's frustration could be felt just by watching & listening to his description of what is happening & what will happen!

Galveston is ALREADY experiencing flooding!! And to think, only about 1/2 the people evacuated! Are you NUTS?? This is a KILLER STORM!! I heard on the radio the National Hurricane Center (NHC) is calling this as bad, if not worse than Katrina!

Storm surge is expected to be about 20 feet & that does NOT include the waves!! ... The waves are expected to be at least 30 feet!!

Please if you're in the area... GET OUT... & GET OUT NOW!!! It's NOT too late... No more time to wait!
Also, as Ike reaches land, it's expected that even all the way up in Dallas will be experiencing tropical storm force winds. (That's about 75 mph!!)

More updates later... Stay safe!!

P.S. The 1st 2 pictures are from last night. The other is today. Looking at the top picture is why the title about this being almost the Perfect Storm... I mean look at it... it's the shape of a true hurricane symbol. It's just missing a well defined eye at the time.

I'll be posting all my screen shots in my photo albums here shortly... so, scroll up & click on "Photos" to see my albums. 

This is the most recent satellite image...

IKE .... & tomorrow is September 11... a day not to forget!!

I believe I am going to go "silent" tomorrow. Except for answering a few messages... I think I will take the time tomorrow to reflect.

If I post anything tomorrow... it will be tribute blogs like I did last year. Just as a reminder.

I'll try to find the ones from last year & link them in this blog... but later on.
Have a GREAT Wednesday... & DON'T FORGET tomorrow!!!!!

P.S. Also... HURRICANE IKE is getting stronger... and it's heading more north than they thought yesterday!! Please... Please... if you're on the coast... keep any eye on this storm!! Here's that one link again that I found the other day... from StormPulse... It's a great one... especially for tracking!

Another great link for tracking hurricanes...

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

This was part of a link that my dear friend Amy Sunshine sent me... It's no secret... she lives in Tx... & so, she's keep an eye on Ike just like the rest of the gulf.

Anyway, StormPulse is one of them "techy" sites that I love so much! There is so much you can learn about the hurricane from it.

I encourage you to bookmark it if you live on any coast!! If you don't live on the coast... I still encourage bookmarking!! It's THAT great of a site... & I've only just begun to scratch the surface of it! (Meaning, still checking out what all it does!)

When you do visit this site... slide your mouse pointer over one of the cities & hold it... you'll get a line from the hurricane / storm to that city... Then just above the information about the hurricane it will pop up the distance!!! SO COOL!!

Right now, Ike is 1024 miles from Corpus Christi, Tx!! & Heading that way!!

Enjoy!! :o)

TWC videos about IKE

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

This is a Tropical Update from The Weather Channel about (TWC) Hurricane Ike.

Here is Jim Cantore being a little funny, yet serious! :o)

Video blog by TWC's Jim Cantore.

2 more not far behind... at least!

Looking at the Atlantic you can see we are heading into PEAK hurricane season.

Gustav is almost upon Louisiana. My heart, thoughts & prayers go out to all in harms way! I sure hope no more lives will be lost! (I heard last night Cuba was reporting over 80 fatalities.)

Anyway, I promised you an update.... so... here it is.... THANKFULLY Gustav is not the record breaking storm I thought... The pressure is up to 954mb... which means it's weakened... Hopefully that will be the trend!

What is scary though, they're predicting a high, as in 15', surge. I pray the levies will hold!

HURRICANE WARNING: Gustav (& Hanna)

Gustav may be a record breaker... I have been watching the pressure in this thing drop & drop... & with each new report it seems to be more grave.

As of 5:00p.m. EDT Gustav is at 941mb. (If you'll recall in the record breaking year 2005, Wilma had the lowest pressure ever recorded @ 882mb.) The millibar pressure is interesting to watch because it shows you how fast a storm is intensifying. Gustav is now over Cuba right now.

If you have the ability to watch The Weather Channel, I highly suggest it. They are very informative... not to mention they have a few good looking meteorologists! (Had to lighten the mood a little! LOL)

New Orleans is already under a mandatory evacuation. They are not going to make the same mistake as they did with Katrina! HOWEVER... Gustav can end up anywhere from Gulf coast of Texas to panhandle of Florida. So, please be on guard!!

The picture above is from the NOAA website. The link will take you to a whole laundry list of link of satellites... the best one to click on is the Gustav Visible LOOP (I believe it needs Java... if you can't run Java, then just click "image")... however, if you're viewing it later... the visible does go black at night. Then you can click on the Infrared link... but it's not as impressive to me as it is to see the clouds view... to me!

More updates later!
P.S. Don't take your eyes off Hanna, either!!!

Fay has arrived

We are FINALLY getting some much need rain here in Mid Ohio... thanks to the remnants of TS Fay. Thankfully though we are not getting the downpours & rough weather like some parts are. (My hearts, thoughts, & prayers go out to you folks who are!!)

With Fay almost a memory, all eyes now turn to the next storm... GUSTAV... please, if you're on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico... please stay tuned to the reports. There is no telling yet which way he's going to turn... yet!

Well, tonight hubby & I are going to the movies. He wants to see The Dark Knight in the theaters. So, maybe I'll have a review for you in a few days. (Hmm... I never did the review of Hancock, did I? I will have to keep that in mind!)

That's it for now!
P.S. Sorry again for being so quiet last week... I sure hope I didn't worry anyone... besides my dad! (He called me Friday, making sure I was ok, because it had been since the Friday before since I last blogged here on The Rambling Train! He doesn't see the R.E.D. ... sorry to worry you Dad!)

Later!!

Edouard quickly forms

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

If you didn't hear yet, Texas is under the gun again with another tropical storm...

Here is a link to NOAA's site that will show the current track.

(It's so new right now, I can't find a storm track map on Weather.com!!!)

Keep the Texans in your prayers!! (Our dear friend Autumn is one of them!!)

Tracking Dolly - Now a Cat 2

My readers from 360 may remember that I for some reason I have a fascination with the coverage about hurricanes.

Well, last year was a bit dull... Today has already made up for that! For several reasons... 1 is that The Weather Channel (TWC) is now in HD & the video & radars & etc is amazing!! (Add Jim Cantore & Mike Bettis (who is from my area!!) into it... & to me it's... AWARD WINNING! LOL)

Then I go to TWC site & their interactive radar has improved over the past year! (I've been using it for a while now... & it's great when you want to zero in on your street!!) That link will take you to the radar for South Padre Island where Dolly is coming ashore... Only thing is... if you click on this tomorrow or later... it won't be as impressive as it is now. (Just fair warning for those who read this later!!)

So, anyway... I just wanted to share the site with you... & be sure to "play around" with the Transparency bar at the bottom of the radar window. Quite interesting to say the least!!

(FYI - The picture above is NOT Hurricane Dolly... it's just from Google Images.)