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6 a.m. & 47 Foot Waves

Aug 29, 2005; 10:57 AM ET

Whew, morning comes a lot earlier than it used to when I was younger. I remember coming in here at 3 a.m. for Floyd in '99. :)

News this morning is hard to come by and we're waiting for daybreak to find out more. Katrina is now a Category 4 storm moving onshore in southeast Louisiana. Waves to 47 feet have been reported by offshore buoys this morning and this C-MAN station was reporting 102 mph gusts (government also reported 114 mph there) and an incredible pressure of 28.08", before the wind sensor dropped to zero (they either entered the eye or the instrument stopped working).

The pressure at that C-MAN station was falling at -0.85" per hour. With that type of fall, your ears will pop like you're in an elevator or driving up a mountain. I've only been in that sort of situation twice (Hugo in '89, Fran in '96).

Power is out at the Superdome, which was the evacuation center for New Orleans. The New Orleans radar is down for the count, no official explanation yet but probably weather-related.

More news on Katrina as it becomes available.

The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of AccuWeather, Inc. or AccuWeather.com

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