Gustav Makes Landfall

The eyewall closing off last night did not lead to more rapid strengthening as I had thought. Dry air once again infiltrated the system which I thought wouldn't happen since the eyewall was shut. However, it did and the system held stead through the night, which is a good thing for the coast. Currently the winds have dropped to 110 mph as the eye has started to come on shore. The 'landfall' will probably be in an hour or so.

Gustav has followed the NHC track quite nicely in the last few hours before landfall, which might have saved the city of New Orleans. Any further east and the surge into the city would have been much worse. Right now we will have to just wait and see what happens in New Orleans with its levees. Just like with Katrina, it might not be until late in the storm when we get any news of any levee breaches and the levees continue to take a beating through the day.

Gustav should continue its northwest or westnorthwest movement for the next day or so, then stalling out drifting slightly to the west for 3-6 more days. This will likely lead to flash flooding in many parts of LA, TX, and AR. Much like Fay, Gustav plans to hang around for a while.