Quick-forming Humberto breaks records

[maseman]

Source: MSNBC

BEAUMONT, Texas - Call it the instant hurricane. Humberto grew from a tropical depression with 35 mph winds to a full-scale hurricane in 18 hours, surprising the Texas-Louisiana coast Thursday with 80 mph winds and heavy rain.

“To put this development in perspective, no tropical cyclone in the historical record has ever reached this intensity at a faster rate near landfall,” said senior hurricane specialist James Franklin at the National Hurricane Center in Miami.



Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20742710/

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Wow.

[snappyturtle]

1. Double Wow! We were watching this because my mother-in-law lives

in Tx...Houston. I awakened in the night and turned on the weather channel and couldn't believe my eyes!

[skip fox]

2. I had mentioned to some graduate students who had only come here (Lafayette, LA)

last year, that they should watch the new depression. Then I wake us this morning wit a category 1 barreling over the border. We just got wet, but a real surprise.

[redqueen]

3. Oh so it WAS reported elsewhere...

I was wondering... thanks.

[lovuian]

4. Last night there were lines at the gas pumps here in houston

being an oil town and going through Rita and Katrina and Allison people gassed up

[tridim]

5. Anyone have that link to Gulf water temperatures? nt

[Critters2]

6. This?

http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/

[DLnyc]

7. Sea Surface Temps (Reynolds SST) from National Weather Service

from NWS:

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/about sst.shtml

(damaged link--remove the space--I do this because listing NWS links on DU sometimes has crashed the linked site in the past)