Gustav shifting a little right?

As James pointed out earlier this evening, the models seem to be a little to the right of their previous few runs, with the consensus taking the center onshore south of New Orleans by Monday afternoon, with sustained winds of about 150 mph and gusts to 185 mph. The satellite pictures do show that Gustav may be moving a little more to the right than earlier, so this is consistent with the adjusted forecast.

If this occurs, this could be worse than Katrina for flooding and structural damage in New Orleans, with the storm surge coming right into Lake Ponchartrain. If you have any family in New Orleans, please make sure they evacuate and don’t try to ride this storm out. With the slight right turn, and faster movement, there could be a threat for significant storm surge along the Mississippi and Alabama Gulf Coasts, and Mobile Bay. People there or with family there should also watch this one very closely.

We are still planning to leave around 6 am tomorrow from UAH, and our new target area is Alexandria, LA. However, with the strength and speed of the storm, and data availability, we may have to shift again. I’m a little bit nervous. It will be a wild ride with the highest winds I’ve probably ever experienced. I will continue to try to get information to the blog…maybe even just by cell phone if internet starts to go out. But, I’ll be somewhere near the center, so watch the blog for information over the next 4 days. I also may be on the news by phone on ABC 33/40.

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