Hurricane Ike

Well, if you read my interests, you'll know one of them is weather. Despite the fact that I no longer live in Florida, I follow the Tropical weather with great interest, and right now Hurricane Ike is the big game in town on a collision course with the Texas coast.

While moving back here to Utah this summer, my wife and I drove through the Texas Gulf coast. Honestly, it wasn't our box of rocks. I think we both enjoyed the lush green of Louisiana more, and the ride through Houston was less than fun.

So it looks like Ike is gonna hit as a category 2, not a major hurricane, but hey, I'm glad I'm not in the way right now. Let's hope everybody that needed to get out got out, and hope for the best for the folks still there. The National Weather Service issued an advisory this evening saying people in single family homes "face certain death" if they don't evacuate the coastal areas. Rather strong wording from that agency, so even though it's only 2, looks like it's still a big time player. The NWS is also calling for a 15-22 foot storm surge in Galveston, that could be heavy duty.

Latest CNN Story on Ike

Here's hoping for the folks in Texas.

Also if you're a tropical weather enthusiast such as myself I strongly recommend checking out Hurricane Hollow Weather

Barometer Bob does a great job of putting together a great clearinghouse of information of all things tropical weather related, including an award winning podcast that I listen to on a regular basis.

No matter where you live I recommend getting a NOAA weather radio. They're almost an essential in Florida, and my wife and I picked up this one, endorsed by weatherman extraordinaire Tom Terry from Channel 9 in Orlando, while living there:

The NOAA radio will let you hear all the weather related watches and warnings for the area in which you live, and is especially helpful in waking you up at night if there is a warning. Trust me, you won't sleep through this alarm!