It's good that Gustav has been relatively weak today, with winds at around 115mph. It looks like now that the storm won't go any higher than a Category 3 before landfall because it's simply getting too close to land to get any stronger. The strengthening that most, including myself, thought would happen over the warm Gulf waters never materialized. This is very good news, but this is still a force to be reckoned with.
The projected area for landfall is still the same as when I posted at 3pm, so New Orleans will see some wind, rain, and storm surge out of this. Since this will steer just west of the city, I think the risk of heavy damage has decreased a bit. Tropical storm force winds are expected at landfall, with hurricane force not out of the question. The levees are a different story though, as the storm surge might or might not be enough to run over them. Let's hope they hold.
Hopefully there will be more good news to come, although it can only get so good. We're still talking about a hurricane impacting the Central Louisiana coast, folks. Remember that landfall is slated to occur tomorrow before noon.
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