Gustav drifting west of New Orleans, but west is bad.

[marathoner452]

From my limited knowledge of hurricanes, a hit just to the west is worse than a direct hit because in the northeast quadrant of a hurricane you get the sustained winds plus whatever the forward motion of the storm is.  And don't forget the storm surge.  At least it's not getting worse, but Gustav's still a tropical storm and he's not even in the Gulf yet so who knows what could happen.  I'm evacuating Saturday afternoon/early Sunday morning unless Friday night's forecast takes the storm well away from New Orleans.  I may be evacuating with a co-worker and her cat, which would make for a far more enjoyable experience than being stuck in a hotel room by myself for four days.

Comments

[louismaistros.livejournal.com]

This isn't exactly true. West is definitely BETTER than a direct hit. A direct hit means the eyewall, and you definitely don't want that. East would be better than west, but I'll take whatever good news I can get. Hopefully it will be far enough west that things won't be too bad here.

[i-am-aj.livejournal.com]

The NE quadrant is the worst. Thankfully, each projection places Gustav farther and farther west. The big factor will be Gustav's size. If he is a giant like Katrina (whose feeder bands went up into KY when she made landfall), then that projection places both of us in harm's way. If he's compact, we got a chance.

[quick-step.livejournal.com]

Not as west as I'd like to see, but I hope far enough away so that NOLA doesn't get the worst of the winds and the fetch. Best wishes for you guys.

[i-am-aj.livejournal.com]

Hopefully the drift west continues. So far, Gustav looks slightly compact, so I hope he keeps that up. I think we in MS may dodge the bullet, but I'm worried for NOLA.