Bastardi spitting

[coolwater]

On Fox saying forget the recon reports on wind speed. He says that means nothing and to pay attention to the MB's. As long as they stay below 910 the hurricane will put out 160 to 190 mph winds.

[MetroMike]

Certainly possible....I saw the same report. Gusts will be stronger than the official wind speed on the advisory.

[JtSmarts]

Yeah I saw that too, he was VERY animated.

[cccmachine]

I like what he said when the other guy tried to cut him off.

Whats it going to weaken to? The 7th most powerful hurricane in history out of thousands.

Give em hell Joe

[wayoutfront]

I like what Max said...

at this point as far as possible wekening or strengthning

its the difference in getting head on by an 18 wheeler or freight train

[johngaltfla]

Joe's been on fire since he nailed this storm to hit New Orleans. I fear he's right about the surge and flooding though.

We will be a changed nation in 48 hours.

[coolwater]

Joe's been on fire since he nailed this storm to hit New Orleans. I fear he's right about the surge and flooding though.

We will be a changed nation in 48 hours.

Whoa hold on trigger, those levys may hold. Let's not give up hope just yet.

[inotherwords]

Don't count on it. The levees were only built to withstand a Cat. 3 and they're 40-plus years old. The New Orleans news station is pretty much saying it's a given that they're not going to hold.

[Fodie77]

People give Bastardi a lot of flack, but to his credit he nailed this one.

[johngaltfla]

Joe's been on fire since he nailed this storm to hit New Orleans. I fear he's right about the surge and flooding though.

We will be a changed nation in 48 hours.

Whoa hold on trigger, those levys may hold. Let's not give up hope just yet.

When the engineers who helped build and maintain the levys are on television saying they won't handle a storm like this, I think they know what they are talking about.

This is the worst case scenario being played out. If you don't believe me, listen to the FEMA folks and emergency managment folks in LA. They are predicting possibly 44,000 to 60,000 deaths. On national television. Every 2-3 hours.

So yes, it will change our nation in a remarkable manner.

And how we treat NOAA and weather forecasting for the future.

[LSU2001]

They are called Levees and yes they might. But the officials responsible for maintaining them are now saying they will be topped and may fail completly. They are designed for a CAT 3 not a high end 4 or 5 They were also built many years ago when there was much more marsh between the gulf and NOLA. They have also sunken several feet over the years. So I hope they protect the city but if and I am saying IF NOLA gets the forecasted surge they will not hold back the water.
TIm

[calidoug]

This is the worst case scenario being played out. If you don't believe me, listen to the FEMA folks and emergency managment folks in LA. They are predicting possibly 44,000 to 60,000 deaths. On national television. Every 2-3 hours.

Common misunderstanding. "Casualties" != Deaths. The former includes the injured, as well as the dead.

[wxsouth]

Bastardi keeps insisting the the central pressure is all that matters in determining wind speed. He's absolutely WRONG! What matters is the pressure GRADIENT in the eyewall. If the convection weakens just a bit and the pressure gradient in the eyewall relaxes...the winds will relax as well. I believe this is what has happened this evening. The convection in the eyewall is not as intense as 8 hours ago, and the pressure gradient/winds have relaxed SLIGHTLY!

In addition...radar/recon/TRMM satellite confirm that there has been a break in the southwest eyewall. Whether or not this is temporary or not, who knows.

All in all, the storm is holding its on, not significantly intensifying or weakening. Still very bad news for the Gulf coast.

[NC George]

Joe's been on fire since he nailed this storm to hit New Orleans.

Doesn't he predict every storm the enters the GOM to hit NOLA at some point in time? So he didn't really "nail it" he just kept guessing the same thing uniil it finally happened.

[amawea]

No he doesn't predict every GOM storm to hit New Orleans. He said Ivan wouldn't hit N.O. and it didn't. He nailed this to a T. Get off his back.
Amawea

[Hurricane Cheese]

Gotta give props to Joe B. on this one!

He's right about the pressure too....

I can't believe I missed him on that last update though....I want to see him all fired up!