Ike Makes Landfall

GALVESTON, September 13, 2008 - AT 1200 AM CDT THE CENTER OF HURRICANE IKE WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 28.9 NORTH LONGITUDE 94.5 WEST OR ABOUT 35 MILES SOUTH-SOUTHEAST OF GALVESTON TEXAS.

IKE IS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHWEST NEAR 12 MPH. A NORTHWEST TO NORTH-NORTHWESTWARD MOTION IS FORECAST TO CONTINUE TONIGHT AND SATURDAY MORNING WITH A TURN TOWARD THE NORTH EXPECTED SATURDAY AFTERNOON. ON THE FORECAST TRACK THE CENTER OF IKE WILL BE VERY NEAR GALVESTON ISLAND AND THE UPPER TEXAS COAST BY EARLY SATURDAY MORNING.

DATA FROM NOAA DOPPLER WEATHER RADARS AND RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT INDICATE MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 110 MPH WITH HIGHER GUSTS. IKE IS A STRONG CATEGORY TWO HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON SCALE AND COULD REACH THE TEXAS COAST AS A CATEGORY THREE...MAJOR HURRICANE...JUST BEFORE LANDFALL. STRONGER WINDS AS MUCH AS 30 MPH HIGHER THAN AT THE SURFACE COULD OCCUR ON HIGH RISE BUILDINGS.

IKE REMAINS A VERY LARGE HURRICANE AND HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 120 MILES FROM THE CENTER AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 275 MILES. DURING THE PAST HOUR...HURRICANE FORCE WIND GUSTS HAVE BEEN REPORTED ON GALVESTON ISLAND AND REPORTS FROM NOAA AND AIR FORCE RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT INDICATE SUSTAINED HURRICANE FORCE WINDS ARE JUST OFFSHORE GALVESTON ISLAND.

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