Comments
ABOUT THIS BLOG
WeatherMatrix
AccuWeather Meteorologist and Social Media Manager Jesse Ferrell covers extreme weather and the intersection of meteorology and social media.
Go Back
36°
Columbus, OH
36°F
Use Current Location
Recent
Columbus
Ohio
No results found.
Try searching for a city, zip code or point of interest.
Columbus, OH Weather
Today
WinterCast
Local {stormName} Tracker
Hourly
Daily
Radar
MinuteCast®
Monthly
Air Quality
Health & Activities
Products & Services
For Business
For Partners
For Advertising
AccuWeather APIs
AccuWeather Connect
RealFeel® and RealFeel Shade™
Personal Weather Stations
Apps & Downloads
Subscription Services
Products & Services
For Business
For Partners
For Advertising
AccuWeather APIs
AccuWeather Connect
RealFeel® and RealFeel Shade™
Personal Weather Stations
Apps & Downloads
Subscription Services
© 2025 AccuWeather, Inc. "AccuWeather" and sun design are registered trademarks of AccuWeather, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Weather Blogs / WeatherMatrix
Terrifying Cat 4 Laura approaches LA, TX
Hurricane Laura was upgraded to a Category 4 hurricane, and is expected to hit tonight around the Louisiana-Texas border.
Published Aug 26, 2020 8:02 PM EST
UPDATE 5 PM: Hurricane Laura has been upgraded again, now with 145 mph winds. You can keep up with the latest on our continually updated live blog, and on AccuWeather's and my Twitter and Facebook.
At 1 PM today, August 26, 2020, Hurricane Laura was upgraded to a Category 4 hurricane, and is expected to hit tonight around the Louisiana-Texas border as a Cat 3 or 4 with winds to 140 mph, causing a massive storm surge of 20 feet that could travel 30 miles inland. Half a million people have been evacuated.
Laura 4 PM NAM Model Analysis via Windy.com
Laura has a history of huge waves and high winds. No more operating buoys or oil rigs are in its path, so we may not know the true power of the storm before it hits the coast. This morning, a Shell Oil Rig (Walker Ridge) measured waves of over 34 feet this morning!
Shell Oil Rig (Walker Ridge) reported 37.4 foot waves at 4 AM
The same station reported winds as high as 93.2 knots, or 107 mph.
Shell Oil Rig (Walker Ridge) reported winds of 93.2 knots around the same time.
Hurricane Laura COD Sandwich Satellite 8/26 4:13 PM