Hurricane Ike A Cat 2 Over Houston

UPDATE: Doppler estimates indicate 10-12 inches of rain in the Houston area... reports from HCOEM (archived) also show similar amounts in parts of the city.

LIVE SATELLITE OF "IKE" (PREMIUM | PRO) | RADAR (PREMIUM | PRO) | BUOY/SHIP OBS

UPDATE: With the latest NHC update, Ike has been downgraded to a Category 1 storm near Conroe, Texas. I have uploaded a radar loop since landfall to the archived graphics area.

ORIGINAL REPORT:

It's Saturday morning and incredibly Hurricane Ike is still a Category two storm, far inland over the city of Houston. Ike made landfall around 2 AM in Galveston as a Category 2 hurricane.

I'm updating "J's Breaking Weather News" at right for the latest damage reports that I'm seeing from national and local news sources. I'm starting to upload some incredible raw video to the player at right as well.

The damage reports that I've seen so far are about what I expected: widespread heavy damage, but few areas that appear to have catastrophic damage. The storm was unusually strong for its size, causing a widespread storm surge but didn't appear to contain a core of high winds. If this would have been a Cat 4 at its center like the 1900 storm, the reporters from Galveston Island wouldn't be reporting this morning. I would caution this claim with the note that, while reporters are reporting now, they haven't had a chance to drive around on Galveston island yet and there may be horrors yet to come.

Coming later this morning: Damage pics, radar shots, and talk about the upcoming flooding problems from Ike.