Good morning, Check out this cool high res picture of Hurricane Dolly. A NASA satellite took the snapshot early on Wednesday.
Dolly was moving to the northwest early Wednesday, battering South Padre Island with 50-60 mile per hour winds with stronger winds expected later today.
Here is an official press release from the SPI EMA.
Press Release received from SPI Emergency Management Team - July 21, 2008 (11 a.m.)
Monitor www.spiemergency.com for further updates
Tropical Storm Dolly is expected to make landfall near or just south of Brownsville as a strong Category 1 Hurricane late Wednesday morning to mid-afternoon. South Padre Island remains under a hurricane warning.
South Padre Island is forecasted to have tropical storm force winds between 8-10 p.m. tonight with up to 90 mph winds by late Wednesday morning to early afternoon.
Heavy rains will be widespread for the area with 8-10 inches of rain forecasted for the storm’s duration. Some areas may see as much as 20 inches of rain. Storm surge of 3-5 feet is also expected once storm makes landfall.
The Queen Isabella Memorial Bridge remains open. The decision to close the bridge due to increased winds will be made by the Texas Department of Transportation. It is likely the bridge will close at 45 mph sustained winds.
“The Island community is urged to complete any necessary business on the Island as early as possible,” Mayor Robert N. Pinkerton Jr. said. “We encourage people to be on one side of the bridge by 6 p.m. today. We also urge the community to remain indoors after sundown today.”
As the beach narrows on the north end of the Town of South Padre Island, first-floor residents are cautioned to watch for potential flooding.
Cameron County officials issued a mandatory relocation of high-profile vehicles in the Laguna Madre area by 5 p.m. today.
Mayor Pinkerton declared a local state of disaster Monday, implementing the Town’s Emergency Management Plan. The state of disaster shall continue for a period of not more than seven days of the date hereof, unless the same is continued by consent of the Aldermen of the Town of South Padre Island.
“Increased winds are concern, and the community is encouraged to bring items susceptible to flight, indoors,” Pinkerton said. “Anyone feeling uncomfortable with the expected storm is encouraged to relocate.”
The South Padre Island Fire Department continues to issue hurricane re-entry stickers for those returning to the Island after a major storm event. Stickers may be obtained at the fire department located behind City Hall at 4501 Padre Blvd. Stickers will no longer be distributed after 5 p.m. today.
Of course, South Padre Island is a very popular vacation & Spring Break destination. Speaking of vacations, check out this picture Chris Way of Lee's Summit took while travelling on vacation through Western Nebraska on his way to Wyoming.
Here's how Chris describes what he saw.
I have seen numerous funnels, lowerings and wall clouds but never an actual tornado. We shot some pictures from the car until we found a safe place to pull off and get out to shoot some more. I would estimate we were no more than 5 miles NW of the tornado and watched it on the ground for at least ten minutes as it spun through pastures. The nearest town was Chappell Nebraska.
Have a great day,
Brett