My wife is in a funny position, hoping the storm will not have arrived at the point of interfering with flights out of Tampa, while having left the Cancun area, so as not to interfere with flights landing here. Talk about a "window of opportunity," eh?
Ida has tropical storm force winds extending out 140 miles from her center. She's not going to leave us alone, no matter what. She's just too big.
As I read the data, we should get the real hit from the storm, starting about midnight, tonight. I hate being up all night, drying floors!
while.. it looks as if Cancun will get a lot of rain, the storm appears to be tracking North, and now appears to be missing Cancun with the brunt of its attack... which is a good thing...
It's past 1 AM, here, and extremely quiet- no wind, no rain, something that doesn't feel quite right, after it's rained so much, for so long. One website I use says it's going to bypass us completely, the other, that rains here will start around 6 AM, with Cancun just on the edge of the storm. I'm beginning to think these predictions are not very useful.
AIRPORT CANCUN It's been raining, lightly to moderately, since 3 AM: there is no wind, and planes are landing and taking off, normally. Those monitoring activity at the Cancun Airport may find this site useful: http://www.cancun.bz/arrivals_departures.php Ida has not yet passed Cancun. Here is a late excerpt from the weather reports: IDA IS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHWEST NEAR 12 MPH...19 KM/HR. A TURN TOWARD THE NORTH-NORTHWEST AND THEN NORTH IS EXPECTED OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS WITH AN INCREASE IN FORWARD SPEED. ON THE FORECAST TRACK...IDA IS EXPECTED TO MOVE THROUGH THE YUCATAN CHANNEL AND INTO THE SOUTHEASTERN GULF OF MEXICO LATER TODAY...PASSING CLOSE TO THE NORTHEASTERN TIP OF THE YUCATAN PENINSULA. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 90 MPH...150 KM/HR...WITH HIGHER GUSTS. IDA IS A CATEGORY ONE HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON SCALE. SOME STRENGTHENING IS FORECAST...AND IDA COULD BECOME A CATEGORY TWO HURRICANE TODAY OR TONIGHT. GRADUAL WEAKENING IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN BY LATE MONDAY. HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 15 MILES...30 KM...FROM THE CENTER...AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 140 MILES...220 KM.
It's 6:15 AM as I write this. It is strangely calm, but there is a sustained dull roar coming from the beach and the surf can best be described as angry. Not the huge walls of water that preceded Wilma, but a continuous pounding with a very short interval between crests. I've pulled my head back in and shuttered the door again. A clue as to what may be coming is that none of the cats want to go out. Looking at the maps, it doesn't seem that we're going to get battered, but I suspect things will become unpleasant for awhile. Have a safe day, everybody.
I've got all the windows open now. It's dark and nasty-looking out there, but it's barely drizzling. The latest NOAA update says this, in part: So much for the beach. I think things may be quite different in a couple of hours. There's still plenty of time for this thing to pound us. Still, our only real concern here is water...oh, and of course we want the storm to be bad enough that they cancel all the flights and hubby doesn't have to go to work (but not so bad that anything bad actually happens).
I'll need Noah's Ark, that Mixz1 spoke of, yesterday, then, RG, because I live right at the edge of the Puerto Cancun development. If sea levels rise, the water will flow right up those boat channels they've put in and up and over the land, which is all flat around here until the point at which the streets start to run up the hill from Bonampak, towards Tulum. (And, admittedly, I may consume more than the recommended daily dosage of commas, when writing!)
I hear there will be free boat rides on Lake Bonampak . According to this morning's news, http://www.sipse.com/noticias/18829-libran-playas-recuperadas-lluvia.html , as of noon yesterday the 80 meters of beach that have been reclaimed, contrary to opinions, has remained untouched by the storm. What storm? The art of spin, as practiced in Mexico, goes beyond anything we experienced NOB. You have to wonder what the point of the article is. Using the same reasoning, the streets of Cancun were dry as of noon last Thursday. Tell me about the beach Tuesday morning.
