h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

It downgraded to a TS over Haiti overnight... backing the forecast for it to enter the Gulf to Saturday (maybe). As it slowed down, the projected path is much more unpredictable but also gives it more chance to build up strength.

Still no emails. I'm amazed.

I'm in Oklahoma and I've already had two about it. If our site in Louisiana gets hit, we have to do their work.

Third email - if the site in Texas gets hit we'll do their work too. I hope we get comp time or something for this.

The UK Met Office has it heading in an Austin-wards direction:
http://skeetobiteweather.com/archive/model/AL072008mlts.gif?668271798

Thanks guys

They're all playing pin the tail on the donkey at this point.

Well, kinda. However, if I remember rightly UKMET was forecasting a southern dip towards Jamaica while most of the others had it continuing in a more north-westerly direction up the west coast of Cuba... and guess what

Wednesday - scorchio minus three, no rain.

At which color track were you looking? When I looked at that map yesterday, when you said UKMET had it aimed your direction, the track that seemed to be going that way was the BAMS track. BAMS is yellow and UKMET is orange. BAMS is still the most Westerly of the tracks.

It was the orange track that went at Jamaica yesterday and then headed across the Gulf on a more southerly track than most of the others, pointing directly at Travis county. I think BAMS might also have been the other southern track.

Well, either way, the possible sites for landfall currently range from the central Texas coast to Florida. That's about as precise as any forecast needs to be at this point.

Well, I haven't gotten any "official" hurricane emails, but I did just get one to let me know where to get trash bags and rubber bands for my computers.

Considering that this will be a long weekend and I don't work Fridays now, I'm filing this under "SEP".

SEP

Aaaand... There it is.

The first official Gustav email.
---------------------------------------------------------------

JSC has started early preparations for Tropical Storm/Hurricane Gustav. We initiated Level 4 Readiness activities effective at 10 a.m. today to take advantage of time remaining before the long Labor Day weekend. The EOC will monitor the track of Gustav over the weekend and status the Hurricane Incident Management Team at regular intervals. Employees should watch the progress of the storm and can check the center status by calling the JSC Emergency Line at 281-483-3351, or toll-free at 1-877-283-1947. Another important source of information is the agency Emergency Operations Web site: http://www.nasa.gov/eoc

Before departing the center for the Labor Day holiday, we ask to:
- Protect your computer and other office electronics with hurricane kits issued to all employees;
- Secure vital records;
- Update your emergency contact information on Employee Express (https://www.employeeexpress.gov (contractors should check with their Human Resources Office).
- Onsite employees are encouraged to update your personal information in SyREN by right-clicking on the SyREN icon in the taskbar.

You should review your organization/company emergency plans, identify any potential risks around work areas, fuel up the government vehicles and equipment, and check your call down lists. Our preparations at this point are proactive to avoid the risk of a large call-out of employees during the long weekend should additional prep work be required.

Please refer to JSC hurricane emergency information brochure distributed earlier this year for additional information. In the event that a storm strikes the JSC area, remember to report your status on the toll-free number at 1-877-470-5240.

Point of contact: Center Operations, x30541.

Are you sure you should be posting that sort of information here, including phone numbers?

DNA published the main switchboard number here.

But it's ok... those are public automated system numbers.

Oh, okay. Don't want you hauled off by the Secret Service

Ah, that's better. Thanks Met Office http://skeetobiteweather.com/picservice.asp?t=m&m=07&av=20088299
(That link is time-dependent, of course)

Thursday - scorchio minus four, no rain.

Raining today on my day off. I don't care. It's still a day off.

I like it when it rains on my day off, unless I have errands to run, food to buy, stuff to do, people to see. It gives me a good enough excuse to sit in and watch movies

Friday - scorchio minus two, no rain. The forecasters are saying that we might be back to scorchio by Monday and Tuesday, but by then we might also be seeing some side effects from Gustav, depending on what it does during the next three or four days. And now there's Hanna, which is currently in the western Atlantic north of Puerto Rico heading north west, which would normally mean a track up the east coast of America, but this one is forecast to turn west and then south west by Sunday, which puts it on a track across the Bahamas and the towards central Cuba, and once it's travelled across Cuba... it could well follow the usual hurricane route from there, turn northwesterly and follow Gustav into the Gulf of Mexico and towards the US Gulf coast. It would be a major disaster for Louisiana to be hit by two hurricanes in the space of less than two weeks (and no doubt the evangelicals will see it as more punishment from God), but that's what happened three years ago with Katrina and Rita, although they were separated by almost a month and... six or seven other hurricanes, counting the letters of the alphabet from K to R (do they have hurricanes beginning with Q?).

Ah, apparently not. No Q and no U. And it seems there's going to be a Hurricane Wilfred this year. I just don't see Wilfred as a particularly threatening or violent name. I mean, c'mon... http://blogs.coventrytelegraph.net/thegeekfiles/wilf3.jpg What a perfect little angel

I had errands to run yesterday but managed to time it so I didn't get rained on.

Last night we had something like 20% chance for rain which turned into a thunderstorm loud enough to wake me up. That doesn't happen all that often. I'm too sleep deprived to usually hear that sort of thing.

Just checked Gustav's projected path again. Looks like I'm in for some extra work. Supposed to be scorchio minus 10 here today.