Please forgive my 1-track mind, but look at these images Dennis.

[Maddy McCall]

OMFG! Dennis will be a hurricane, inland, until he gets into mid to north Mississippi. I'm 100+/-miles north of New Orleans, and we have just been put under a tropical storm warning from right now until 7AM Monday. Secure loose objects, prepare for power outages, high winds, lots of rain, etc. Pardon my language, but, again, OMFG!

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at4+shtml/204558.shtml?3day?large

Here are the latest-run computer models. Looks like landfall between Gulfport, MS, and Mobile, AL, is highly likely:



And, finally, here's an image of the hurricane that is desktop worthy. Unbelievably beautiful for such a ferocious force.

[democracyindanger]

1. So now what did we evil liberals do to piss Jeebus off?

That's one big ass storm. Stay safe.

[LastKnight]

46. those are red states, remember...

i dont think it was us...

[Maddy McCall]

48. Coming from someone in South Dakota....

Your comment is noted.

Pffft. :eyes:

Signed,

Not the only liberal in Mississippi

[LastKnight]

50. i know.

im not saying there arent liberals there. i know it well. just tryin to be funny.

[Maddy McCall]

52. Sorry if I'm being a class-A asshole.

I'm kinda really nervous. Letting my feelings carry through in my posts.

:hug:

[LastKnight]

57. no no -

im not being diplomatic either, so... no fault no blame.

be safe.

[merh]

71. Definitely your comment is noted

by another liberal in Mississippi :eyes:

[LastKnight]

72. since when does the lounge have no sense of humor?

i live in south dakota. red as can be. we go from drought to flood, with tornadoes and blizzards that can kill ya. god hates us too.

well fuck me for making a joke. sorry.

[Maddy McCall]

73. I have a very healthy sense of humor.

My friends would say that sometimes it borders on tasteless.

But what if you were awaiting landfall of a Cat4 hurricane? I don't think anyone who knows disaster is impending wants to have it joked about.

JMHO.

[merh]

74. What, you can't take a joke.

I used the :eyes: icon, not the :mad: icon.

Talk about lack of a sense of humor! :crazy:

[all.of.me]

2. you have a right to be preoccupied with this!!

great image.

[Maddy McCall]

3. It's beautiful.

Unbelievable that something so beautiful can cause so much devastation.

Thanks, geneva. :)

[all.of.me]

6. stay safe!

[Zuni]

12. I am fascinated with storms

when I see storm footage on TV, I am riveted. I just wish they didn't cause such suffering, because the power of nature is incredible to see

[Pithy Cherub]

4. That storm is packing and pushing a ton of water.

The storm surge the weather channel guy said was expected to go 6 miles inland. They are also very concerned if it hits inlets like in Mobile. Category 4...:scared:

Most folks won't ride out a 3. Hope everyone has enough time to get to higher land and get out!

Be safe please!

[Maddy McCall]

7. Mobile will not be able to recover from a Cat 4.

The surges will devastate Mobile. It will take years to repair the damage. :(

[Pithy Cherub]

11. Based on its speed, it will be dark and stay dark

when it hits. No one will be able to see the water coming! I am truly frightened for people in the Gulf and hope that just stuff gets washed away, please not the people.

This will be devestating and the color pictures on the weather chanel its just pure red for miles around that perfectly formed eye.

Please Be Safe!

[Capn Sunshine]

54. Mobile is practically Sea level

I think it's 26 ft. elevation.
And at the end of that shallow bay.

Is there something about Global Warming the president can share with us yet?

[fishnfla]

5. I hear ya', it's consuming

Unfortunatly, there are those who are in for a world of shit, scrambling, worrying, heading for the hills, to come back to what?

It sucks its gonna suck

[Maddy McCall]

8. Where are you?

My cousin is in Pcola. Or I should say that he's here. He came west to stay with his family. His home in Pcola was demolished by Ivan last year. He's 75% through rebuilding, so he was really concerned that the storm would make landfall again at Pcola.

I hope you aren't on the panhandle. Best wishes. :hug:

[fishnfla]

9. East Central Jebakistan

out of harms way.we had our shit last year.
the ones you dont hear from tonight(?trof?bosshogg?) are the ones you have to worry on

[Misunderestimator]

15. Yes, has anyone heard from trof?

He would be right in the path I think.

[Maddy McCall]

16. I haven't heard from him today.

He, BOSSHOG, Merh, and several other coastal DUers are in my thoughts, though...been thinking about them all day.

[Misunderestimator]

18. And you're not out of harm's way either by the looks of this storm...

I'll be keeping you in my thoughts as well. :hug:

[Maddy McCall]

20. Thanks.

I'm staying put. My house sits under a canopy of virgin pine, oak, and hickory. That's my only concern.

I've already assumed that we'll lose power. I bought 10 bags of ice, batteries, canned tuna, and, yes, even vienna sausages tonight...we'll be ok.

Check your PM in about 5 mins.

[uppityperson]

40. Never mind, I found he/she already posted here

Good luck with a wild night.

[Lars39]

27. trof and mz t were packing up and going to Boston.

They're going to stay with his daughter(?).

[Misunderestimator]

29. Oh good!

I know they are right on the coast... damn.

[Lars39]

36. Right on the coast and not recovered from the last year.

:(

[southlandshari]

30. There were mandatory evacuations in his county this morning

I'm sure he and Mrs. trof are miles north now, maybe in my area. I think they are friends with Alabama Yankee and his wife, who live here and are active in local Dem party stuff.

[Maddy McCall]

31. Where are you?

Aren't you in bama??

[southlandshari]

39. Not too far from you

as the crow flies. We should get hit right about the same time.

:scared:

[Misunderestimator]

32. I assume you're far enough north not to be in danger... I hope.

I have to tell you... I really hated last summer... there is nothing more anxiety-ridden than waiting for a hurricane. Stay safe.

[southlandshari]

35. South central Alabama

Should be on the east side of the eye, not good I'm told. Shelters opening up around here, but most traffic is continuing on to higher ground. The biggest danger for us will be tornados, beginning tomorrow afternoon.

I'll be ok, I bought enough Moon Pies to last a month today. What else could I do? All the flashlights, bottled water and potted meat were already gone.

;-)

Thanks to all of you who are sending good thoughts our way!

[Zuni]

10. Maddy---go inland

I don't know where in Miss. you live, but that SOB is gonna thrash your home state. If I were you, I would be getting yourself, your family, your pets and irreplacable belongings out of the way

We don't need anymore DU tragedies

:grouphug:

[Maddy McCall]

19. I'm inland. As the crow flies, I'm 100 miles from the coast.

I'm north of NO, on the outer edge of NHC's warning cone. We've been getting a couple of wind squalls, but nothing big yet.

Thanks, Zuni. I'm worried about the DUers directly in harm's way. Merh, Bosshog, and trof...and others I can't think of right now...are on the coast or really close to it. Hugs to all of them.

[southlandshari]

25. QC, misanthrope, BamaLefty, Bama Girl are a few more

that are in south Alabama or the Florida panhandle. I'm freaked out enough and I'm in south/central Alabama. If it follows the projected path, the eye will pass between you and me, Maddy. I'd rather be on your side though, because I think the east side of a hurricane is where the tornados and other really nasty stuff lurks. Is that right?

I actually forgot for a minute you were in Mississippi, and posted to you in another thread a few minutes ago, asking if I could stay with you til its all over!

:pals:

[Maddy McCall]

43. Well, you can come stay with me anyway.

We'll drink lots of daquairis. I've got ten bags of ice, strawberries, and a blender until the power goes out. :D

[tarkus]

13. Rethinking that southern pride thing?

Sorry. Seriously though, I hope that you and your people are safe. Sometimes hurricanes can do surprising things, like turn around or head for somewhere else entirely or just die. Perhaps one of these things will happen. Anyway, I assume all DU'ers are going to get out of this one safely. Even the southern ones.

[aeolian]

14. Holy shit, it's gonna hit Kansas!

:hide:

[merh]

17. They did just announce locally that the path is between

Pensacola and Pascagoula, moving the track westerly.

:scared:

Did you see the other systems that they are watching Maddy? The weather channel had a quick snippet on them.

I don't want to spend the summer running from storms. x(

[Horse with no Name]

21. Where are you Merh?

You better stay safe, ya here?
Will say my prayers for your safety.:hug::hi:

[Maddy McCall]

24. She's sitting on Biloxi Back Bay!!!!

I hate to play mama, but we need to push that little heiffer to GTH out of Biloxi tonight. :P

[Horse with no Name]

26. uhhh merh?

Good hint..when the casinos shut down, it's time to boogie.:silly:
You better head north hon--dennis looks like a monster.

[merh]

33. They shut the casinos down early, before the storm because

the MS Gaming Commission has to oversee the closures, they have to secure the machines, secure the money and double check the moorings. I promise, I will be out of here before this mf hits.

I appreciate the concern, I do. I don't want to be Marianne Gerlache.

I'll be safe Horse, I promise. :hi:

Thanks for the concern :hug:

[merh]

37. I promise mom, first thing tomorrow.

I'm just taking care of putting things off the floor here. Just in case!

:hug:

[progmom]

22. hey merh

be safe, ok?

:hug:

[merh]

34. I promise, I'll be safe.

They are saying brunt of storm by 7:00 p.m. tomorrow. I'll leave in the morning and I'll be inland and safe. I promise! :hi:

Thanks for the hug and concern :hug:

[Maddy McCall]

23. No, but I'm going to check NHC now.

My son has a monopoly on the television tonight. He's certain that he won't be able to watch Nickelodeon for a week. :rofl:

[achtung_circus]

28. Environment Canada's Infra-red image

[Jack Rabbit]

38. This is huge

Graphic from Associated Press via the San Francisco Chronicle

[Jack Rabbit]

41. Image from Haiti

Photo: Associated Press via the San Francisco Chronicle

[Maddy McCall]

68. That is heartbreaking.

:cry:

[Maddy McCall]

42. ********DENNIS IS NOW CATEGORY 4***********

RECON vortex fix shows the pressure has dropped another mb to 940mb, and they found a max wind of
131kts in the northeast quadrant. This is clearly a CAT 4 hurricane, and the NHC should be updating
the status of storm shortly. The buoy located 115NM ESE of Pensacola is currently reporting gusts to 39KTS
and sea swell heights have increased to 15 feet, coming in from the SE at a wave period of 11 seconds.
The water temp there is 83 degrees.

The eye is 10NM across, and the thermal gradient between inside and outside the eyewall is up to 9 degrees.
The current rate in intensification will likely continue for another 6-12 hours, but it is unlikely (IMHO that
Dennis will reach CAT 5 intensity (920mb). In fact, a case can be made for some weakening during
the 3-6 hours just prior to landfall.:

1) There is a faint hint on the latest stepped IR (Dvorak) image of an eye wall cycling process beginning with
a 'double ring' of cold tops visible near the eye wall. (Got to look real close....) The cycling will be complete by
morning, at the same time of the normal diurnal convection maximum.
2) By that time, Dennis will begin passing over somewhat cooler water which will inhibit rapid intensification.
3) There is considerable dry air to the west (and significant southwesterlies in the upper levels (aka wind shear)
which may finally manage to get brought into the western side of the circulation during Sunday afternoon.

But, for about the 10th time, Intensity forecasts are extremely prone to error, especially over the short term.

The latest set of available model runs remain clustered on a landfall near Mobile Sunday afternoon, and the NHC
has just changed their landfall point to go along with the consensus which shows Mobile as having the highest probability for
landfall around 5PM Sunday afternoon/evening -- very close to the same place Ivan came ashore last year. The latest
00Z GFS shows landfall right over Mobile at 5PM.

If Dennis comes in to the west side of Mobile Bay, versus to the east (as Ivan did), the important Mobile
Port area will suffer far more damage from the storm surge that would funnel up into Mobile Bay.
Assuming an intensity similar to the current intensity, (low end CAT 4, which is stronger than Ivan was at landfall)
the storm surge will be in the 14-18 foot range, with some areas in Mobile Bay experiencing a 20 foot surge.

Steve

Side Note: I am forecasting the price of oil will be $5/barrel higher come Monday morning than it was on Friday
as Dennis will be moving across prime oil real estate -- something that was not expected by Futures Traders on Friday.


www.wunderground.com Meteorologist Steve Gregory's blog.

[southlandshari]

44. Yikes.

I don't know what else to say.

Yikes.

Posting here actually kind of helps keep my worries at bay. Keep the comforting stuff coming, friends!

[Maddy McCall]

45. If you decide to head west...

I've got a huge couch, lots of canned food and water. :D

[southlandshari]

47. I've only got Moon Pies to share

But I am mightily interested in those daquiris you mentioned a few posts up. At least we wouldn't feel it when it hits...

:hug:

[Maddy McCall]

51. LOL! Daqs and Moon Pies. The food of the gods!

Did I mention that I also have sardines and vienna sausages?

If you reply, "YUM!," then I KNOW you're a southern girl. :D

[southlandshari]

63. YUM!

:loveya:

[Maddy McCall]

64. Well, if we don't meet during this disaster, we have to get the...

Mississippi-Bama meet-up planned for this fall. Plenty of good food to be had by all, and none of it canned, hopefully. :D

[southlandshari]

66. Alabama is ready

We've been talking about a meet up for months, but some knucklehead said she'd organize it based on everyone's input about location, dates, etc... and she has yet to do a dadgum thing about it yet. They ought to give her a good whupping, you know?

:blush:

Seriously - an Alabama-Mississippi meetup sounds great. We all use each other's state to make ourselves feel better ("at least I'm not from MISSISSIPPI" sound familiar?).

[Maddy McCall]

67. Yeah, "those Alabama neanderthals."

;-)

Merh, in Biloxi, and I have been talking about this. I'm sure BOSSHOG and some other Mississippians will show up. We were talking about maybe having it at the new Hard Rock Cafe Casino hotel in Biloxi.

I'd love to have one sometime in the future at the Florabama--if it survives Dennis. It didn't survive Ivan, but trof said it had rebuilt. Hope it makes it through Dennis.

[southlandshari]

69. The Florabama for a meetup?!

Only if there is a strict "no cameras allowed" policy for the entire event!

;-)

[Maddy McCall]

70. Oh, the fun we'd have!

Hell, we'd probably make some DU recruits while there. :D

[xmas74]

49. I'll be logging on here at 8 pm CDT on Monday night.

I expect to hear from you or at least find a thread that says that you rode the storm out.
You had better stay safe!

Good luck!

[Maddy McCall]

55. I will be fine.

I survived on ramen noodles and pinto beans during my poorer days. I'm not a huge Hank Jr. fan, but his song (with a gender adjustment) "A Country Girl Can Survive" comes to mind right now. :D

I'm worried about all of the people directly on the coast. :scared:

[xmas74]

60. I'm a little worried about them too.

My Mom was talking about it today (which she almost never does). She stated that one of her uncles had retired somewhere down there in the past couple of years (I didn't catch where. I'll have to ask). She was worried that he would be in the path of the storm.

I'll be thinking of ya'll.

[Maddy McCall]

62. I hope he's evacuated, or planning to.

Things that never get mentioned during these "exciting" events are that the nursing homes have to evacuate all of the elderly people, too.

When my grandmother was alive, at a nursing home in Port Arthur, TX, she had to be evacuated from a nursing home. AFter it was over, she said that she would rather die than have to go through that hell again.

So sad for all the elderly people who have to depend on others for their safety. :cry: They are in my prayers.

[xmas74]

65. I'm sure he has evacuated by now.

We haven't been able to contact him by his cell for a few days (at least that's what Mom said).
I saw a report a year ago about how so many of the elderly stated that they would rather die than go through an evacuation again. They said that they just couldn't take it anymore. I used to work in nursing homes for some extra spending money. A few of the residents refused to be evacuated from their rooms into a safe area in the building for tornado warnings. They said that at their age it was no longer worth it.
I'd hate to be the person assisting w/ evac down there!

[ForrestGump]

53. I hope that everyone here in the path of this thing is going to be okay

(and their property safe). I haven't caught news of this storm but it looks like a terror and I understand that it's already killed people and devastated parts of the Caribbean area. It'll quickly lose energy as it heads inland but, yeah, it's possible that you'll still have some serious winds, Maddy,

My thoughts regarding your welfare will be registering record positive notes until this thing fades into nothingness. I've ridden out several hurricanes, including Category Four, and the sounds alone (of a strong hurricane, at least) rate among the scariest experiences of my life. I hope that you bear little of this...if any: hurricanes sometimes do weird things, in terms of their course and strength, so here's hoping this one dies before it does much more damage and ends up anywhere near your neck of the prverbial (and, indeed, actual) woods. :hug:

[Maddy McCall]

58. Thanks, FG.

I'm going to be posting as long as I can. My main concern is that we will lose power. I've got plenty of propane, lanterns, grills, etc. (I have a great assortment of camping supplies--my fave weekend thing to do.)

We'll be fine. Tomorrow AM I'm going out and picking up the fliable stuff in the yard. Then we'll batten down the hatches until it's over.

Thanks for your concern. :hug:

(And, BTW, there's no Elvis to do a benefit for this hurricane. :( )

[Deja Q]

56. Damnz! Florida gets more how humid action than I ever will!

W00t!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[sundog]

59. dammit maddy, i thought you were gonna post more pics of the

hot air traffic reporter :P

good luck to ya sweetheart... you'll be ok :hug:

[Maddy McCall]

61. Rally Caparas.

Wish he'd come to my town to do some reportin'. ;-)

I'm going to be fine. It's just a big, scary storm. :hug: