Cat 3 Hurricane Harvey could be first major US landfall since 2005
This is what Hurricane Harvey looked like at 9 a.m. this morning:
The "buzzsaw" shape is indicative of its strength -- a Category 2 at that time, upgraded this afternoon to a Category 3. Buoy 42020 off the coast of Texas has recently gusted to 74 mph with waves of 23.6 feet!
Like I'm helpless to do anything about nature's monster that is about to kill dozens and affect thousands. Those in Texas should have rushed to completion any preparations; time is limited to evacuate or hunker down. A state of emergency is in effect for all coastal counties.
Already (at 4 p.m.) reports are coming in of cars under water and boats that have broken loose. Reed Timmer is on the scene and is streaming live to AccuWeather's Facebook Page.
The European model is now forecasting 60 inches (5 feet!) of rain.
Here are our latest Hurricane Harvey forecast graphics. We expect the storm to not only devastate the coast with wind gusts to 130 mph and a storm surge of up to 12 feet, but the storm will hang around until next week, dropping 3 feet of rain in some places.
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