Here is a chart of measuring hurricane strength ....Harvey is a Cat. 1 so far

[dixiegrrrrl]

[FSogol]

1. Harvey is a Cat?

I guess it is good that there is only "1 so far."

[dixiegrrrrl]

3. It will be Cat 3 when it lands and it supposed to stay on land for some time

Wind speeds of 115 on Sat. AFTER landfall.
So at least 24 hours, more likely 48 hours of high wind, monsoon rain, massive flooding, and no high ground.
I shudder to think of all those people in the area.

[B2G]

5. Could easily make it to Cat 4. nt

[FSogol]

6. Joking aside, I hope everyone stays safe. n/t

[KatyMan]

8. Harvey is a rabbit

A very large white one.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_(film)



But those of us on the Texas coast are taking this seriously.

[FSogol]

9. A favorite film of mine. Hope you stay safe and dry.

My areaway windows fill up with water if I get more than 2" of rain. My basement would turn into and aquarium if I got 12-24."

[KatyMan]

14. Thanks!

We're in a far west Houston suburb that's supposed to get something like 17" of rain over the stretch of the storm but we'll see, these early forecasts can change quite quickly.
I selfishly look forward to a weekend of rain, netflix, wine and...er...herb...

[underpants]

2. The water its carrying with it is the thing

Since I believe is different than the storm surge.

[davsand]

7. They are projecting up to to feet of rain.

You are correct that storm surge is not the same thing. At one point this morning they were talking about fresh water flooding as well as the storm surge which carries sea water with it.

Corpus has an elderly water system that does not fare well when there are heavy rains. My daughter went to the A&M branch there in Corpus, and they were on a boil order five times in that one school year. One of those orders lasted over two weeks. They had one issue last year where there were flammable chemicals in the water supply from one of the refineries dumping illegally. This storm carries a huge potential for damage and it is terrifying. My kid is back up here in an Illinois college now, but still has a bunch of friends there on that campus. The college announced a mandatory evacuation from the campus and, in fact, closed the campus at noon today. They actually delayed opening some of the housing there because of this storm coming in.

This is some ugly stuff coming in, and the locals are taking it seriously.



Laura

[underpants]

10. Seaside drainage. It's hard when there's little downhill

I grew up surrounded by water on the Virginia peninsula. No sewers because the water table was only a few feet below the ground. No basements. Septic tanks and those things with Va peninsula humidity - that's why all the basketball hoops are in the front yard.

Refinery leakage. Nice.

[dixiegrrrrl]

15. All those refineries and other chemical plants sitting in the path....

that can make for a toxic flood. *shudder*

[brooklynite]

4. Current track...

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/storm_graphics/AT09/refresh/AL092017_5day_cone_no_line_and_wind+png/152721_5day_cone_no_line_and_wind.png

[Warpy]

11. That is truly horrible

After it comes onshore, it's just going to squat there in the same place. That means flooding will be massive well away from the storm surge area.

Best advice to anyone in the area is to fill the bathtub. The water will be potable as is for a couple of days, boil after that, and since the water will likely be shut down until after the storm passes, it will also give a source for things like flushing the toilet and washing a few dishes here and there.

Been there, done that, lived through it.

[LanternWaste]

12. My first weekend day-trip to Galveston was scheduled three months ago.

My first weekend day-trip (in two years) to Galveston was scheduled three months ago.

After watching both the track and the projected rainfall amounts over the past 36 hours (forecast calls for localized areas to get up to 20&quot , I think I'll be staying home instead.

[malaise]

17. Please do stay home

This looks bad

[Mariana]

13. I'm old enough to remember

when they generally expressed hurricane strength in miles per hour sustained wind speed in the first place. You didn't have to go hunt up a chart to see what the heck category X means.

[dixiegrrrrl]

16. I'm old enough to remember when "normal" thunderstorms did not have a name.

Now they are naming winter storms.
Waiting for tornadoes to get names.

[Mariana]

18. Who is "they" naming winter storms?

It isn't the NWS, not yet anyway. Isn't it just The Weather Channel, or have some more media outlets jumped on that? I live in winter storm land, and I don't hear names being used because I refuse to watch The Weather Channel.

I had to stop watching The Weather Channel years and years ago, when they were reporting on a nothing fizzled out tropical storm where my parents live. One of the idiot crew stood outside babbling away, not a hair out of place, when a piece of paper floated by on a little gust of wind. "Look, there's some debris flying past!" this jackass said. I changed the channel and I've never watched again.

I thought it was way too much when they started naming tropical storms. 35mph winds worthy of a name? Seriously? And I hate the idiotic categories for hurricanes. What's wrong with just telling us the sustained wind speed? Do they think numbers bigger than 5 are too confusing for us to handle?

Oh, and get off my lawn!

[dixiegrrrrl]

19. LOL!!!

I seem to remember hearings name last year?? I think, when a storm was heading to the upper East Coast.