posted by admin on Jun 26
During the first week of September, 2008 Hurricane Ike tore through the islands of Turks & Caicos and Great Inagua as a category four, with sustained winds of 135mph, before making landfall on the north coast of Cuba as a strong category three, with 120mph winds.
Ike crossed the eastern and central provinces of the Cuban mainland and moved offshore, paralleling the south coast of the island, making another landfall over the western portion of Cuba and emerging into the Gulf of Mexico.
The hurricane continued across the Gulf and made a final landfall near Galveston, Texas as a borderline category two/three, with 110mph winds, during the early morning hours of September 13th.
The hurricane caused extensive wind and storm surge damage in the affected areas, virtually obliterating several coastal communities on the Bolivar peninsula of the upper Texas coast.
With monetary losses over $31 billion (USD), Ike is now ranked as the third costliest hurricane in United States history.
From the afternoon of September 7th through the evening of September 9th, storm chasers Michael Laca, Jim Leonard, Jose Garcia and Max Hagen intercepted numerous outer rainbands, from Hurricane Ike, in the middle and lower Florida Keys, as the storm passed well to the south.
At the time of Ike’s closest point of approach to the Keys, the hurricane was a category one with sustained winds of 80mph and a central pressure of 965mb (28.50in).
Although the center of Ike remained a significant distance (150 miles) to the south, the hurricane had a very large windfield and produced sustained tropical storm conditions (39-73mph), with gusts of near hurricane-force, across most of the Florida Keys, which resulted in some minor wind damage.
These strong winds produced a 2-3ft storm surge in exposed locations on the Atlantic side of the lower Keys. During high-tide, many low-lying areas experienced significant flooding.
Numerous tornadic thunderstorms were also embedded within the outer rain bands of Hurricane Ike and several confirmed reports of tornadoes and tornadic waterspouts have been received from locations throughout the Keys.
Duration : 0:8:30
[youtube RyApe7EcY9o]
June 26th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
oooo:( i’m glad i …
oooo:( i’m glad i don’t live anywhere near the ocean:)
June 26th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Fantastic Footage …
Fantastic Footage My Friend and Thanx for Posting !
100*
Bump
June 26th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Great footage …
Great footage Michael!:) You did a fabulous job providing visual evidence of how significant sustained TS winds can be, while accompanied by winds gusting upwards of hurricane force. I was hoping for a S. Florida landfall to be completely honest…rather than the 22 hour drive to the Galveston Bay area I ultimately made myself. It is awesome that you were able too capture such fantastic video of both Ike and Gustav during daylight hours. A well deserved “five stars!”:)
June 26th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
hurricans theres a …
hurricans theres a chance that it cant cut the power down but i dont no how many people still try to use power in a middle of a hurricane
June 26th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
awesome hurricane …
my favorite is between 3:23-3:50. palm trees and wind are wonderful together 
awesome hurricane footage
June 26th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
September 8 thats …
September 8 thats my birthday
June 26th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
awesome video bro. …
awesome video bro. Thanks for sharing. I love the intensity of the wind and palm trees.
June 26th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Wow, come to think …
Wow, come to think of if it, IKE could have been much worse. It could have strike Florida and Texas. This tropical cyclone could have been as lethal as Katrina if it made landfall just a day after than it did. Ike was reinvigorating itself rather rapidly during landfall.
June 26th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Thanks so much!!! …
Thanks so much!!! The highest gust I recorded myself was 56mph on the afternoon of the 9th, in Key West, near the entrance to the White Street Pier… where the large waves are crashing at the end of this clip. However, during the late night and early morning hours from the 8th to the 9th, several spiral bands moved onshore the middle Keys with winds that were easily gusting between 65-70mph. The highest officially recorded gust in the Keys was 75mph from an offshore automated marine station.
June 26th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Great video
what …
Great video
what was the peak gust you recorded?
June 26th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Thanks so much! …
Thanks so much! Glad you liked the footage.
June 26th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
great footage, wish …
great footage, wish I could have been there.
June 26th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
i was seriously …
i was seriously considering meeting you and Jim in the Keys if Ike came closer than it did, but the models kept pointing towards a serious hit somewhere along the north Gulf coast (but at night). Glad you guys got something outta that storm. Galveston was wild, but really hard to get good video due ot the night landfall.
Was there much damage in the Keys?
June 26th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Thanks Mark! Yeah.. …
Thanks Mark! Yeah…the crazy behavior of walking out on the end of a pier, at high tide, with storm surge and waves crashing over them is standard fare for Key West locals during a hurricane passage. The highest winds we measured (using my Kestrel 4500) were between 40-55mph, but there were a few bands that easily produced gusts up between 65-70mph, especially on the night of the 8th and early morning of the 9th.
June 26th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Love that wave …
Love that wave footage at the end. Who were the idiots trying to get killed? Just some locals? (Of course, I tried the exact same thng in Galveston…) That surge was impressive. Did you get any wind readings yourself?
BTW – nice and clear video. I’m going to have to upgrade my camera soon.
June 26th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Poor Tia! I’m sure …
Poor Tia! I’m sure she and Tio were tucked safely away in their house. Though, if Ike had stayed her north and gone directly over the Keys, those waves would have been in their yard.
June 26th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
HAHAHA… Thanks so …
HAHAHA… Thanks so much!
June 26th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Was that Tia that …
Was that Tia that got slammed by that wave?
June 26th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
I think I actually …
I think I actually saw your cell fly by! Great video!
June 26th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Thanks James! It …
Thanks James! It wasn’t quite as impressive as Sinlaku, but for being 150 miles away, it produced some decent effects in the Keys.
June 26th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Thank you so much …
Thank you so much Nathan! I’m really glad you liked the footage.
June 26th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Great video Michael …
Great video Michael. I love the palm trees and the audio’s great too. As you said, an awesome show given how far away the centre was!
June 26th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Great footage as …
Great footage as always Michael! I love the palm trees going every which way and your storm surge footage. Great to hear from you again. Very awesome storm surge footage!!!
June 26th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Thanks Chris! I …
Thanks Chris! I wish the strongest stuff had been during daylight hours but, even so, what we got was pretty impressive. I’m glad you liked the video.
June 26th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Great footage. The …
Great footage. The video quality even on youtube is still amazing, and the shots themselves were great too