The good news Sunday morning is that interaction with Western Cuba took more of a toll on Gustav than was earlier estimated, data from the Air Force Hurricane Hunter plane shows that Gustav has weakened to a Cat 3 Hurricane. Now that Gustav is back over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico it will likely re-intensify. Gustav will most likely regain Cat. 4 classification witch is still an extremely dangerous storm. At this point Gustav is expected to make landfall west of New Orleans but that can change with little warning. It is important not to focus on the exact track of Gustav as this is a large Hurricane and significant impacts are likely to occur well away from the center. A Hurricane Warning has been issued for the Northern Gulf Coast from Camern Louisiana Eastward to the Alabama-Florida border,Include City of New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain. A Tropical Storm Warning has been issued from East of the Alabama-Florida Border to the Ochlockonee River and from West of Cameron Louisiana to just East of High Island Texas. These Warnings mean that these conditions are expected within the next 24 Hours.

It looks as though the residents and government of New Orleans did learn some lessons from Hurricane Katrina, and are moving people out of New Orleans ahead of time. I have to stop there and avoid sharing my personal feelings about that hole mess do to the fact that Gustav could make landfall before I could share all of my feelings.

Watch for Gas prices to climb again with the evacuation of the Oil and Natural Gas platforms(more than 3,500) along the Gulf Coast. There is also the possible shut down of some of the large refineries along the Gulf coast. We are all aware that the oil industry will take any opportunity to bump the prices up, So fill up now! 

The Labor Day Weekend is shaping up to be a marvelous end to Summer with Temp’s forecast to be near 90 Friday, Saturday and Sunday with a minor cool down on Labor Day to the mid 80’s. Low’s are forecast to be in the mid to upper 50’s Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. There is a slight chance of a thunderstorm Friday and Friday evening and again Sunday and Sunday evening. 

So if you are planning that last camping trip or maybe one more trip to the lake or any outdoor activity the weather should be near perfect.

Even though Gustav has dropped from a category One Hurricane back down to a Tropical Storm due to its movement across land it will likely grow in strength once it moves out over open water again. As usual there is some disagreement among the intensity models with the GFDL and HWRF models showing robust strengthening and the statistically-based SHIPS and LGEM models that forecast only modest strengthening.

At this time TS Gustav’s projected path takes it across the North West End of Cuba and then into the Gulf of Mexico, it is way to early to project where Gustav will make landfall, or what intensity will be associated with Gustav at that point.

New Orleans city officials are making plans to evacuate people, pets and hospitals in an attempt to avoid a Katrina-style chaos. Taking no chances, city officials began preliminary planning to evacuate and lock down the city in hopes of avoiding the catastrophe that followed the 2005 storm. Mayor Ray Nagin left the Democratic National Convention in Denver to return home for the preparations.

Oil companies ramped up preparations to evacuate some facilities as TS Gustav made its way toward the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, becoming a potential threat to the region’s extensive oil and natural gas production. Oil companies with operations in the Gulf watched the storm’s path closely. The companies have strict protocols for removing workers from rigs, platforms and other facilities when a storm enters the Gulf. Already this summer Hurricane Dolly and Tropical Storm Edouard prompted the evacuation of hundreds of workers, though neither storm had a significant impact on production.

For now it is a matter of watch and wait to see what Gustav will do in the next 2-3 days. 

Tropical Storm Fay continues to dump record breaking amounts of rain on Florida and has now made her forth landfall. Fay moved onshore along the Florida Panhandle early Saturday morning (around 2am EDT) with heavy rain, high winds and the threat of flooding. Fay has spent the week in Florida crisscrossing the state, with a number of locations reporting rainfall amounts of more than 24″, there has been extensive flooding due to Fay’s very slow speeds, at times traveling as slow as 2 to 5 mph. Residents have been warned to watch for snakes and alligators in residential areas.

Outer rain bands will most likely bring locally heavy rain and gusty winds to parts of southern South Carolina, Southwestern Georgia and northern Florida. Yesterday brought reports of possible tornadoes and tornado damage in northeastern Florida. Tornadoes will remain a threat today as the rain bands cross South Carolina, southern Georgia, southern Alabama and the Florida Panhandle.

With a cold front moving across Northern Colorado today temperatures in the area will be around 5 degrees cooler than Thursday. Saturday and Sunday Temperatures should hold in the Mid 80’s with a slight increase in the Thunderstorm possibility, We could see an increase in Thunderstorm activity this evening but it should be mainly along a line from Southeast of Denver to Akron. As usual the Models are not in agreement as to any increase in Thunderstorm activity for Saturday and Sunday at this point it looks as though this activity would be mainly in the Foothills.

 Monday afternoon/evening should be a good chance to finally get your lawn mowed with the temperature warming to 80 and very little chance of rain showers you should be able to get those chores finished up that the wet weather put a stop to. Tuesday should be much the same but will reach the mid 80’s, the first mention of precipitation is in Wednesdays forecast with a 10% chance of thunderstorms after 1:00 pm. At this time the balance of the work week looks like a copy of Wednesdays forecast with temp’s in the mid 80s and a slight chance of showers.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami FL is expecting FAY to turn toward the West-Northwest later today followed by a turn toward the Northwest by Sunday Night. FAY will be moving near the Southern coast of Eastern and Central Cuba tonight and Sunday. FAY may weaken slightly while moving over Hispaniola this morning, but some strengthening is possible later today and on Sunday after the center moves back over water. Tropical Storm force winds extend outward up to 105 miles from the center. Tides of 1 to 2 feet above normal can be expected in the warning area in areas of onshore flow. FAY is expected to produce total rainfall accumulations of 4 to 8 inches over Hispaniola, Easter and Central Cuba, Jamaica and the Northern Cayman Islands with isolated maximum amounts of 12 inches.

It appears at this time that FAY will impact the Florida Keys and then Florida, Florida officials are warning people to stay informed and be prepared. It takes a lot of time to Evacuate the Keys if needed so Fay is being watched very closely. Many Forecasters expect FAY to become a Hurricane once it is over open water.

If You have plans to travel to Florida or the Keys stay informed and prepared since things can change rapidly. Check with your Airline and Hotels well ahead of your departure. If you have relatives in the area check in with them and make sure they are ontop of what is going on in their area.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday will feel much more like Fall with the high forecast to be 65 Friday with a 70% chance of Thunder storms, a high of 65 Saturday and 70% chance of Thunder storms Warming up to 75 Sunday with a chance of Thunder storms. But don’t get used to it because we warm back up to the 80’s Monday with only a 10% chance of showers. At this time Tuesday through Friday look much the same as Monday with highs in the mid 80’s and 10% chance of Rain. But we know how quickly that can change.

If you plan on going to the mountains this weekend be sure to take warm clothing and the means to stay dry. The National Weather Service is suggesting the possibility of SNOW SHOWERS above 11,000 feet so don’t get caught unprepared. If you are new to the area please be aware of the drastic weather changes that can and do take place in the High Country.

All of the ingredients are in place for Heavy Slow Moving Thunderstorms to develop over the Mountains and Foothills this afternoon. These slow moving storms will move across the Urban Corridor Sunday afternoon and evening bringing the possibility of rainfall amounts of 1.00 to 3.00 inches in an hour. These storms will be much like the ones that moved through the are Wednesday and Friday. Because of this the National Weather Service in Denver will be issuing a FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR THE FOOTHILLS AND URBAN CORRIDOR.

If you have plans for outdoor activities this afternoon/evening keep an eye on the sky and an ear to the NOAA WEATHER RADIO these storms seem to pop up out of no where and dump huge amounts of rain. Don’t seek shelter under an overpass and stay out of low areas, Remember “TURN AROUND DON’T DROWN”.

Saturday and Sunday look great with highs in the mid 80’s and 30 to 40 percent chance of afternoon and evening showers or thunderstorms. The National Weather Service calls this “ANOTHER TRICKY FORECAST” but that is Colorado Weather and if you have lived here any time at all you know our weather can change in a matter of minute’s. This possibility of heavy rains and winds as high 40 mph will accompany these thunderstorms which will form in the mountains and move onto the plains. There is an increased possibility of lightning with these thunderstorm so stay alert and stay out of harms way. The thunderstorms that have dumped inch’s of rain in areas within the metroplex have seemed tocome out of nowhere with little warning and have had flash flood watches and warnings issued about as soon as they show up on the radar so please be careful.