Postscript
Ike’s precipitation never made it to the Daniel Boone. The winds did however. Hurricane force winds were recorded in Louisville, Kentucky and a strong wind advisory was posted for Lexington and the Daniel Boone. We’ll have to wait and hope for another storm to bring much needed rain to the state, though we wish for no dangerous hurricane.
Current Track for September 11
It was 47 years ago today that Hurricane Carla made landfall and battered the central Texas coast with wind gusts to 175 mph, and up to 16 inches of rain. Carla also spawned a tornado which swept across Galveston Island killing eight people. The Category 4 hurricane claimed 45 lives and caused $2.22 billion dollars in damage.
Forecasters haven’t directly compared Ike to Carla yet, but this hurricane will most likely impact Kentucky. After making landfall Friday, Ike should swing northest north and aim for Kentucky and the Daniel Boone National Forest. The final track however has yet to play out, but if the bluegrass gets under this tropical depression, the state undoubtedly will do some catching up on the meager precipitation it has received this summer.
On average, the central part of the state receives about 11 inches of rain in the summer, however only 8 inches has fallen from June-August and none so far in September. In September, one of the bluegrass’s driest months, rainfall totals average about 3 inches. Last September, less than one inch of rain fell that month. Bone dry.
Enter Ike
A storm of this magnitude could definitely bring 3 inches of rain to the bluegrass. It could bring 6 inches. If it strengthens to a category 4 storm above the warmest section of the Gulf of Mexico as predicted, it will contain an enormous amount of energy and water vapor. Hurricanes this strong produce more energy in a day than the U.S. produces at all power plants in a year. That’s a lot of juice and Ike has to go somewhere.
Hurricanes need over 80-degree F surface water temperatures to exist. Every degree above that is like adding gasoline to a fire.
Below is a map of current surface water temperatures
