BajaNomad - Hurricane John

Hurricane John

bajablue - 8-29-2006 at 08:29 PM

ACAPULCO, Mexico (AP) -- Hurricane John's outer bands lashed Mexico's western coast Tuesday night as the powerful Category 3 storm threatened to cause flooding and ruin vacations in some Pacific resorts.

John became the sixth Pacific hurricane of the season earlier in the day and quickly grew in strength with maximum sustained winds reaching 115 mph. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said it would likely grow even stronger.

However, it was not expected to make a direct hit on land or affect the United States. Long-term predictions had it moving to the northwest, parallel to the coastline, with its outer winds lashing the resorts of Acapulco, Ixtapa, Puerto Vallarta and Los Cabos. John could cause landslides and flooding before heading out to sea, the hurricane center said. (Projected path)

Dozens of small, coastal communities were on alert as forecasters warned the hurricane could dump up to 8 inches of rain.

Tropical storm warnings were issued for a 300-mile stretch of coastline from Lagunas de Chacahua in Oaxaca north to Cabo Corrientes, just south of Puerto Vallarta.

The hurricane Tuesday night was centered about 115 miles south of Acapulco and was moving to the west-northwest at 11 mph. Forecasters said hurricane force winds extended outward as far as 30 miles, with tropical-storm-force winds out 125 miles.

The storm was already bringing winds and rain to a swath of coastline from Puerto Escondido, a beach community popular with surfers in the southern state of Oaxaca to Acapulco.

In Acapulco, the storm was keeping fishermen on shore, while beachgoers had to put up with light rain and heavy clouds. But the airport was still open, and there were few signs that residents were preparing for the hurricane.

bajajudy - 8-30-2006 at 06:50 AM

Waiting for the 8am pdt update but this does not look good.

capitolkat - 8-30-2006 at 08:42 AM

Just upgraded to cat 4-- still projected to pass S. and west of Cabo

Sallysouth - 8-30-2006 at 08:48 AM

Hang on to your sombrero Judy! You guys could get hit good by John! :wow:

bajajudy - 8-30-2006 at 08:59 AM

I am not happy with the new projected path.
I told my husband on our walk....this one scares me.
We are continuing to prepare for the worst. At least we have a few days to get everything ready. My husband has moved the chickens into our outside bathroom where they will be protected. We will put the parakeets in our bodega. My house is pretty bulletproof....I hope! We have huge storm doors that cover our sliding glass doors.
You guys keep your fingers crossed for those of us who live here....we need it!

JZ - 8-30-2006 at 09:02 AM

HURRICANE JOHN DISCUSSION NUMBER 9
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL EP112006
800 AM PDT WED AUG 30 2006

THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT WAS ABLE TO
INVESTIGATE JOHN THIS MORNING JUST AFTER THE EYE REAPPEARED ON
SATELLITE IMAGERY. A 700 MB FLIGHT LEVEL WIND OF 126 KT WAS
REPORTED ON THE OUTBOUND LEG NORTHEAST OF THE CENTER...THIS REDUCES
TO 113 KT AT THE SURFACE...AND IS CONSISTENT WITH A DROPSONDE
MEASUREMENT IN THE NORTHEAST EYEWALL. FURTHERMORE... DVORAK
CLASSIFICATIONS FROM BOTH TAFB AND SAB WERE 6.0 OR 115 KT. THE
INITIAL INTENSITY IS SET AT 115 KT FOR THIS ADVISORY...AND JOHN HAS
NOW REACHED CATEGORY FOUR STATUS ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON HURRICANE
SCALE. OUTFLOW IS WELL ESTABLISHED...THE SHEAR IS EXPECTED TO BE
LOW...AND THE WATERS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN AROUND 30 DEGREES
CELSIUS... CONSEQUENTLY THE OFFICIAL FORECAST ANTICIPATES
ADDITIONAL STRENGTHENING AND MAINTAINS JOHN AS A CATEGORY FOUR
THROUGH 48 HOURS. AFTER WHICH...GRADUAL WEAKENING IS FORECAST DUE
TO THE HURRICANE INTERACTING WITH LAND AND EVENTUALLY ENCOUNTERING
COOLER WATERS.

THE INITIAL MOTION IS 305/10. JOHN SHOULD CONTINUE TO MOVE TO THE
NORTHWEST AND PARALLEL VERY CLOSE TO THE WEST COAST OF
MEXICO...AROUND THE SOUTHWESTERN PERIPHERY OF A MIDDLE- TO
UPPER-LEVEL RIDGE OVER NORTHERN MEXICO. THE OFFICIAL TRACK
FORECAST HAS BEEN ADJUSTED SLIGHTLY TO THE EAST OF THE PREVIOUS
TRACK AND IS IN CLOSE AGREEMENT WITH THE DYNAMICAL MODEL CONSENSUS
CONU. THERE REMAINS A HIGHER THAN NORMAL UNCERTAINTY IN THE TRACK
AFTER THREE DAYS...AND THE GFDL MODEL STILL TAKES JOHN
NORTHWESTWARD INTO THE GULF OF CALIFORNIA.

THE WIND RADII HAVE BEEN ADJUSTED ACCORDINGLY FROM THE AIRCRAFT
OBSERVATIONS. THE UPDATED TRACK FURTHER TO THE EAST AND THE
EXPANDED WIND RADII HAVE PROMPTED THE GOVERNMENT OF MEXICO TO
ADJUST THE WATCHES AND WARNINGS.

shari - 8-30-2006 at 09:23 AM

Oh Judy, I'm glad you are preparing well, we have a huge boulder in our outhouse so it doesn't blow over. I was very interested in your storm doors that go over your sliding glass door...could you send me a picture of them or describe them. Also, are your chickens laying in this heat, ours arent.Please let us know how things develop there and please BE SAFE!

Cypress - 8-30-2006 at 11:25 AM

Storms! Looks like most of these Pacific storms head out into the open ocean, heading for parts unknown. That's a very good place for them to go.

Chickens

flyfishinPam - 8-30-2006 at 11:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by shari
Oh Judy, I'm glad you are preparing well, we have a huge boulder in our outhouse so it doesn't blow over. I was very interested in your storm doors that go over your sliding glass door...could you send me a picture of them or describe them. Also, are your chickens laying in this heat, ours arent.Please let us know how things develop there and please BE SAFE!

Some of mine are some aren't laying in the heat but I remember when Hurricane Juliette came by us some of mine layed two and some three a day for three days! That was cool.

edit (remembering) this was after the storm chickens had no eggs before it but after the storm cleared lots of eggs then for two more days after that. for reference it did continue to rain for a few days afterwards.

[Edited on 8-31-2006 by flyfishinPam]

ViajeraGal - 9-2-2006 at 05:39 PM

Unfortunately the news trickling out of Los Barriles is not too good, as it is being reported that JOHN came ashore just north of LB at the "Goat Farm" and took out most trees and RVs in the trailer park just north of it, as well as 'blowing out' other casas, sending their air conditioner onto the driveway, some vehicles lost and possible loss of life in an arroyo; but that needs to be confirmed.