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Been sprinkling rain for last hour. First heavy rain hit a few minutes ago. Winds gusting to 53. It is very dark overhead, but can see blue sky to the West. Blue skies, Jim

US Govt tried seeding hurricanes with iodine crystals in the 1960's. Data was inconclusive as to whether the seeding reduce (or increased) the severity of the storms. Blue skies, Jim

Josh, post updates here: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_view_flat;post=1840392;page=3;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;mh=25; Blue skies, Jim

Electric co is reporting almost 1000 scattered power outages already in the Galveston-Houston area. Tree limbs falling on power lines at this time. Minor flooding reported in the Kemah recreation area of Clear Lake. Blue skies, Jim

Houston and Galveston had several reported instances of looting yesterday and one so far today. In two instances HPD caught the looters inside the stores. The looters were not very bright today. They broke into a store last night by kicking the glass out of a door. The owner was called and he boarded up the door. The looters came back today and kicked in the plywood. Across the street in a pawn shop parking lot was an HPD unit watching for looters! Blue skies, Jim

Looks like tropical winds may have just arrived. Very strong gusts around 40 mph and very dark clouds. Winds are coming from the Northeast which means the storm is still to the East of Houston. Now the "fun" begins! Blue skies, Jim

My wife was supposed to go to Amsterdam on Thursday and the storm was headed directly to Houston. I had a feeling she was not gona' be able to make the flight and I was right. It was 6 - 8 hours from inside the loop to IAH. Gave me a chance to get the house ready and pack the essentials. Plus Tom J and I went out to the dz to pick up people's gear and see if anything needed to be done. I could have easily made my flight out of Hobby to Ontario, but thought I'd better stay in case something happens to the house. Good thing to since my wife is now in the emergency room until Sunday evening. Hope Carey understands. Wish I was there! Blue skies, Jim

Friday Morning: It was a surprise at sunrise today. It was calm, but very cool. Birds were chattering well before dawn and now there are none to be seen. Guess they are all hiding as the winds pick up. It has been over 100 F the last several days which did not help the evacuation yesterday. A lot of drivers spent the night on the side of the road at the 181 mile marker on IH45 North. Forecast for the storm is still NW between Houston and Beaumont. This will put Beaumont on the dirty side of the storm. NW Louisiana is getting 40 mph winds this morning and LO got rain. Worse the storm surge started and one of the levees broke at one of the previous break locations. Unfortunately it is the break the helicopters dropped the 3000lb sandbags on so there is no easy way to get to the break. Winds this afternoon in Houston are breezy. 10 - 18 mph with gusts to 20. Storm is still 140 miles SE of Galveston. Clouds appear to be very high. We've had several bands of clouds pass over the city, but not a drop of rain. Galveston has minor street flooding already in the West and North sides of of the island and it hasn't rained yet. Waves look like they are 6 - 8 ft and are already slapping the seawall. Houston is a ghost town. Very little traffic on the roads. Strange, but even the freeways are now clear. Shipley DoNuts is still open along with several gas station/convenience stores. Saw a crowd buying beer this morning. Guess they've got the day off and want to party! Milkway cooked a turkey dinner for everyone last night. Was really nice of her and Stevie. Trent took some over to Tom J and Kimmie this afternoon and we had it again. Kimmie's dogs seem to know something is not normal. People at the house on a Friday? I don't think they are used to that. It is very hot again. Kinda' think the storm is now throwing off heat, because the sun hasn't been out since early this morning. It's bright, but the clouds are getting thicker. I'll keep everyone posted as long as the power lasts. Blue skies, Jim

This has got to be the strangest quote of the year. Maybe because it hasn't got here yet? Blue skies, Jim

Yep, we're stuck in town too! Got quite a crowd of jumpers around us though. Everyone stay safe. Blue skies, Jim

Trent, Tom J, Kimmie, Stevie, Jed and I am still in Houston (West U/Bellaire & Meyerland areas). Rich Williams is with Joe and Larissa Nichols up North of town. Blue skies, Jim

Dog tags are around here someplace. Change of plans! We are heading Southwest. There is no traffic in that direction since initially the hurricane was supposed to go into Matagorda which is down that way. We can get to Victoria or Wharton and head North from there. All but 4 models are concentrated on the Houston/Galveston area now and still inching towards the East. Blue skies, Jim

Latest models show movement toward the East and away from Corpus Christi. Good for them, but bad for Houston/Galveston. We're just about ready to run for the hills. Roads are still jammed at 12:15 AM. This looks like it will be a lot of fun! Blue skies, Jim

thanks prof! We'll be out of here tomorrow. Got my rig and that's all that I really want to take. Blue skies, Jim

Lots of stuff to do including getting the Otter out of Spaceland, picking up rigs at dz, deciding what to take from house, waiting for wife to leave for Amsterdam. (I need to make sure she is on plane before I leave or she might get left here!) Plan on taking Westpark tollway to 1093 to Hwy 36. Then take 36 all the way to Ft Hood. Autumn said she would put me, Trent, Ivette and Valdimer up. We can always beg floorspace from Temple and Lexington dz's if we have to. Blue skies, Jim

Otter is full of Tandem and student rigs. Some of the fun jumper stuff is locked in 6 ft metal lockers. Blue skies, Jim

Thanks Alan. There were only a few staff around there at noon. Trailers have been moved into the hanger with all equipment. Otter will leave in the morning for either Columbus or Perris I think. Everything is boarded up and nailed down. If the hanger can survive these winds it will survive anything. Latest from NOAA models still shows most landfall predictions as near Matagorda. Trent and I will head out early Friday morning to the Ft Hood/Waco area. Nothing we can do with a Cat 5 bearing down. Blue skies, Jim

Just got back from the dz and went by the med center to pick up medication for a friends dad. Traffic is absolutely the worst I have ever seen. It was backed up on 1462 past the dz further than you could see toward Alvin, Hughway 288 into Houston was 15 mph to the tollway which wasn't moving at all. Looks like everyone is leaving, but it's probably less than 50%. The dz was full of staff trailers and equipment. Plane looked very lonely sitting out by the fuel pumps and no jumpers around it. All the windows were boarded up so about the best that Hoop, dot and Eric could do. Everything is up off the floor or on the second floor. We'll keep our fingers crossed that the hanger survives the wind damage. Trent and I will probably try to get out in the wee hours Friday morning since we are facing a Cat 5 now. There is nothing we could do in those winds if a roof starts to go or windows start to blow out. We will head to Ft Hood North of Waco. Blue skies, Jim

I was out there when she got there. Glad you'rs is safe. There were a lot of rigs still there. Blue skies, Jim

Perfect! Park your car in the low spot on Friday, make sure the insurance is paid up. Then tell them you were trying to get in TO WORK.... Blue skies, Jim

If you have gear at Spaceland you need to pick it up immediately. If the hanger is damaged, damage to 3rd party property could exceed the dz insurance coverage. If you can't pick it up, please have someone pick it up for you. Water level on the dz property during the 1900 storm that hit Galveston was 8 feet. Blue skies, Jim

BA would win hands down. It's a short nose Super Otter. Is about 400 lbs lighter than the long nose versions and has brand new -27 engines on it. It was funny seeing it race against the Eloy -34 Otter during the Texas 2 Step in Dallas. Blue skies, Jim

Hey, show up at work on Friday and leave them a note that says you were there and ready to work. Since they locked you out ... Blue skies, Jim

Not bad for an old skateboarder with no acting lessons. Blue skies, Jim

Remember it? I had to live with part of it! Had the honor of doing the Sarbanes-Oxley review earlier this year. Blue skies, Jim