Atlantic - Laura forms August 21, 2020 (day, ground, floods, Louisiana)

[LKJ1988]

Forward speed needs to slow down some.

[Psychoma]

Tue 8pEDT/7pCDT
Winds 85mph(140km)
Moving WNW 17mph(28km/h)
Pressure 983mb
Center about 435miles(700km) SE of Lake Charles, LA
Center about 465miles(745km) SE of Galveston, TX
Hurricane winds extend up to 45miles(75km) from center, TS winds 175miles(280km)

Was waiting for the second recon pass to see if max winds changed.

As the sun sets, steady intensification is occurring, structure and cloud pattern improving, pressure continues to drop = winds should continue to increase into the night. Lightning occurring (can also be a sign of faster change in intensity). Clouds tops very cold (good for storms). Continues to pulse storms around it's center. Healthy system gaining strength.

Evening models shifted closer to the NHC forecast cone. Don't forget...a hurricane is not a point. You have the center (eye) which can be 15-30miles in diameter give or take(we'll know Laura's size once it gets one fully formed), surrounding that is typically a several mile wide eye-wall and that has the strongest winds the hurricane is rated by. Then the rest of the storm which is a few hundred miles in diameter. Surge, inland flooding, tornadoes, strong winds (note above the Hurricane winds extend up to 45miles from center currently) and are typically also felt well outside the 'center'.

[KathrynAragon]

Originally Posted by Psychoma

Glad you made it! I have some family in Tyler & Longview. Hope no issues with the house back home.

I live in Tyler and while we're only expecting heavy rain and some 20 to 30 mph winds, I went ahead and filled the car up with gas and made sure I had groceries. You never know. I lost my roof to Hurricane Ike in Kilgore, and ever since then, I've paid a lot more attention to the tropics!

[Psychoma]

Yep! An experience like that will stick with ya! Good call.

[Psychoma]

Just FYI: Here’s a chart helping show pressure (mb) and wind relationship...they don’t correlate exactly 1:1 but a pressure value of y gets you around a wind of x typically. Laura continues to intensify this evening as pressure drops.
https://twitter.com/burgwx/status/1298438399498629120

[ral31]

Looking like Laura could bring intense winds pretty far inland, especially around the LA/TX border. I'm under a hurricane warning in Alexandria.

[Psychoma]

Tue 11pEDT/10pCDT
Winds 90mph(150km)
Moving WNW 17mph(28km/h)
Pressure 978mb
Center about 405miles(655km) SE of Lake Charles, LA
Center about 430miles(695km) SE of Galveston, TX
Hurricane winds extend up to 45miles(75km) from center, TS winds 175miles(280km)

Continues to steadily intensify. NHC now has 120mph at landfall.
Some surge values raised slightly about 1 foot.

[KathrynAragon]

Originally Posted by ral31

Looking like Laura could bring intense winds pretty far inland, especially around the LA/TX border. I'm under a hurricane warning in Alexandria.

Yep, my aunts and my uncle live near Shreveport and they are expecting pretty heavy winds and rain too, and here in Tyler TX we just got "upgraded" to a tropical storm warning rather than a watch.

Batten down the hatches!

[Psychoma]

Wed 5aEDT/4aCDT
Winds 110mph(175km)
Moving NW 15mph(24km/h)
Pressure 973mb (recon just found just below 970)
Center about 315miles(510km) SSE of Lake Charles, LA
Center about 335miles(540km) SE of Galveston, TX

Hurricane winds extend up to 70miles(110km) from center, TS winds 175miles(280km)

On the edge of becoming Cat3, NHC now forecasting 130mph Cat4 later today. With increased winds, surge values have been raised up slightly once again, 10-15ft expected just E of the eye but a large swath of Louisiana and portions of E TX will have some sort of surge. Surge is the rise in water above normal tide level with waves on top. It is not a wave or tsunami itself, it's kind of like it's own tide level. It is the most dangerous part of a hurricane in the US.

[LKJ1988]

It is like a upside down bowl of water being pulled up. I wished it was coming my way but as always never for me. Just making it super hot for us with sinking air.