What’s the worst sea you’ve ever been in?  Tell us about it below…

At 8 a.m. Eastern time, Lee had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. The storm is crawling to the northeast at 3 mph with a turn to the east-northeast expected Sunday night.

By Sunday, at least 6 to 10 inches of rain had fallen in some spots along the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts, and the National Weather Service warned there was a threat of extensive flooding and flash floods because of the storm’s slow movement inland.

The flash flood threat could be more severe as the rains moves from the flatter Gulf region north into the rugged Appalachians, National Hurricane Center specialist Robbie Berg said.

Closer to the Gulf, the water is “just going to sit there a couple of days,” he said. “Up in the Appalachians you get more threat of flash floods — so that’s very similar to some of the stuff we saw in Vermont.”

Vermont is still cleaning up and digging out dozens of communities that were damaged and isolated by heavy rain from Hurricane Irene last week that quickly overfilled mountain rivers.

Lee could dump up to 20 inches of rain in scattered spots.

No injuries were reported so far from the storm. But even before Lee swept ashore, there were scattered instances of water entering low-lying homes and businesses in Louisiana’s bayou country — a region of fast-eroding wetlands long vulnerable to hurricanes and tropical storms. The storm prompted evacuations in bayou towns such as Jean Lafitte. Thousands were without power.

Coffers were suffering at many coastal businesses that depend on a strong end-of-summer weekend. Alabama beaches that would normally be packed were largely empty, and rough seas closed the Port of Mobile. Mississippi’s coastal casinos, however, were open and reporting brisk business.

The storm was denting offshore energy production. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement said 237 oil and gas production platforms and 23 drilling rigs have been evacuated by Lee. The agency estimates that about 60 percent of the current oil production in the Gulf and almost 55 percent of the natural-gas production has been shut in.

In Alabama, rough seas forced the closure of the Port of Mobile.

In the open Atlantic, Katia has regained hurricane status again, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Katia has shifted between tropical storm and hurricane status while moving across the open Atlantic, Berg said. He says the storm strengthened recently and now has maximum sustained winds of about 75 mph, the lowest-level Category 1 storm.

At 5 a.m. Eastern time, Katia’s center was about 370 miles northeast of the Northern Leeward Islands and it was moving 12 mph toward the northwest.

Berg said Katia poses no threat to land over the next 48 hours, but he urged those on the East Coast and in Bermuda, a British territory in the mid-Atlantic, to remain watchful but not be alarmed.

(c) 2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

(Dow Jones) Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC) said Wednesday that it has removed nonessential workers from the company’s Gunnison, Nansen and Boomvang oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico as a tropical wave and a tropical storm moved toward the area.

Anadarko said it was monitoring the path of the weather systems and was “prepared to evacuate all personnel and shut in production if necessary.”

BP PLC (BP) said it was evacuating more than 500 nonessential workers from platforms in the Southern Green Canyon area of the Gulf, while Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA, RDSA.LN) said it was preparing to evacuate personnel but had not yet done so.

The National Hurricane Center said a tropical wave in the northwestern Caribbean Sea was moving west-northwest at 10 to 15 miles an hour and could turn into a larger storm headed for the central or western Gulf of Mexico in a few days.

A storm in the Gulf could affect offshore oil and gas production. The possibility of a Gulf storm helped drive natural gas futures to two-week highs.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Katia, located further south, near the Leeward Islands, was also moving west-northwest, at 20 miles an hour (32 km an hour), with maximum sustained winds of 70 miles an hour (110 km an hour), the NHC said. The agency has predicted that Katia is likely to veer east of the Gulf, toward the east coast of Florida.

-By Cassandra Sweet, Dow Jones Newswires

By Max Hardberger

After years of surveying boats damaged in hurricanes (what the insurance industry calls “named windstorms”), and after having seen my own boats through a half-dozen hurricanes, I’ve formed some opinions on how a boatowner can protect his vessel.

1. Remove all loose equipment, canvas, dinghies, etc.: this would seem to be intuitive, but I’ve surveyed many vessels that lost their bimini tops and other canvas, their dinghies, fenders (from holders), and other loose equipment. In some cases, the bimini frames can come loose and damage the boat’s windshield and deck with flailing pole-ends. Hurricanes never sneak up on you, so this is the least you can do to protect your vessel.
2. Document your vessel’s equipment and condition before the hurricane hits. Take tons of photos and take the camera/SD card with you when you evacuate. Find and protect your receipts for repairs, replacements, and equipment.
3. Get the vessel where you can give it plenty of scope. Many boats get sunk because rising water lifts them above the tops of the pilings to which they’re secured, then wind and waves force them down onto the tops of the pilings to puncture their hulls. At all costs, secure the vessel from both sides. A side-tie is suicide for a boat in a hurricane. Find a cut, a channel, or if nothing else a wide slip, anywhere that you can tie off on both sides. The wider the better within reason. Try to tie off to things that won’t get uprooted, like heavily secured bollards, cleats, or trees with taproots.  Use line with some elasticity if you can, but otherwise you can use the long scope of the line to give the boat protection from shock loads on the cleats.
4. Many times, you’ll find a channel or cut where you could have gotten plenty of scope from both sides, but other boats have gotten there first and have selfishly blocked usable space with their lines. This is an emergency; if the blocking boats are unattended, untie their lines so you can get your boat past them, but make sure you resecure them at least as well as they were secured when you find them, or otherwise you can be accused of causing their damage.
5. Look for the expected direction of the worst wind—as the hurricane is approaching—and look for things that can fall over onto or get blown into your boat. If you can’t find a place without such hazards, protect that side of the boat with plywood.
6. Protect windows, windshields, glass doors, etc., with plywood cut to fit. Secure the panels well: the wind may exert tremendous suction as well as pressure, so secure the panel to keep suction from pulling the panel away from the glazing.
7. Looting is often a problem after a hurricane. Remove all valuable items from the boat, including the electronics—even the antennae—before evacuating. The same plywood that protects the glass from flying objects can also keep thieves out if well-secured.
8. Lightning damage is a common part of hurricane claims. It’s easy to disconnect all electrical equipment and electronics from the main electrical system to prevent a strike from frying everything, but be sure to leave the automatic bilge pump(s) connected.
9. Try not to leave your boat on the stands in a shipyard in the path of a hurricane. It’s better off in the water. A boat that gets blown off its stands is usually damaged beyond repair.
10. Protect your engine against the possibility of sinking. Many times, the interior of a vessel can be rinsed out after a partial sinking with minimal damage, but saltwater intrusion into an engine can cause a catastrophic failure. There are limited openings into an engine—especially a diesel engine—and sealing them with heavy plastic and quick-drying silicon sealant can protect the engine from damage, especially if you can get to the engine shortly after the hurricane passes.
11. An extreme measure, sometimes necessary in the case of large boats with lots of house or houseboats on floats, is deliberately to sink the boat. This could save the boat from worse damage, and by preparing the boat carefully for the sinking, the damage can be predicted and contained.
12. Remember that the insurance company will expect you to act as a “prudent uninsured” in dealing with a loss. You can’t just let the boat deteriorate after a named windstorm and expect the insurance company to cover losses you could have avoided. Don’t let the boat sit for weeks unattended, or the adjuster may advise the insurer to deny the additional damage caused by your inattention. Document your efforts in mitigating the loss.
13. Don’t try to make money off a loss. Insurance adjusters are experts at spotting attempted fraud. Boatowners sometimes try to add undamaged or nonexistent items to genuine losses. If you get caught, the insurer may use your attempted fraud as a tool to reduce or deny your claim even if it doesn’t press criminal charges. It’s not worth it.

 About the Author

Max Hardberger has been a ship captain, a maritime lawyer, a high school English teacher, a writer, and a ship repossession specialist. His 1998 novel,Freighter Captain, was drawn from a series of voyages he made as a freighter captain in the Caribbean in the late 1980′s. His 2010 memoir, Seized: A Sea Captain’s Adventures, covers some of the ship extractions he’s made in his 20-year career as a ship-recovery specialist.

His adventures have been featured by NPR, The Learning Channel, the Los Angeles Times, gCaptain and numerous other publications. When not on the high seas, he lives in Louisiana. His website can be found at MaxHardberger.com

NOTE: With Hurricane Irene threatening Florida and parts of the U.S. East Coast, here is a look back at 2011′s top websites for tracking hurricanes. 

By Fred Pickhardt, Ocean Weather Services

The consensus of the various 2011 hurricane outlooks suggest the Atlantic 2011 season will see between 13 and 17 named storms, 7-9 hurricanes and 4-5 major hurricanes. The average season has about 10 named storms, 6 hurricanes and 2 intense hurricanes.

According to the Colorado State University’s June update there is a 48% chance for a major hurricane making landfall along the US East Coast and a similar 47% chance somewhere along the US Gulf Coast. Of all the states, Florida will have the highest risk for a land-falling hurricane (71%) and major hurricane (34%).  Texas is next with a 50% hurricane risk and a 20% major hurricane risk followed closely by Louisiana at 47% and 20% respectively.

Now that the Atlantic hurricane season is underway here are my thoughts on the best hurricane tracking sites for 2011:

1. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) is the place to find the official tropical cyclone forecasts and warnings issued by the US government for the North Atlantic as well as the Eastern North Pacific.  The site has numerous resources available with excellent satellite photos, computer model guidance and an archive of past historical tracks going back into the 180o’s. The NHC site is user friendly and comes in full feature, mobile and text only versions with easy access to the latest storm info, official advisories, marine forecasts and much more.
2. The Weather Underground Tropical Weather Page is a very comprehensive and easy to use site which provides excellent tools for storm tracking for both the professional and the amateur.  The site is available in a full (graphics heavy), a lite version, a mobile version and an iPhone version. This site allows you to track tropical cyclones anywhere on the globe with interactive maps that allow overlays of computer guidance, forecast tracks, numerous satellite images and also features several excellent weather blogs.
3. The Naval Research Lab (NRL) Monterey Marine Meteorology Division Tropical Cyclone page is another useful site that provides global storm tracking with comprehensive satellite and forecast track information on tropical cyclones across the globe.  This site is heavy on satellite images and is oriented a bit more to the professional user.
4. Stormpulse is a commercial site that offers both current and archive tracks on an interactive map that allows you to overlay satellite, radar and surface data. It has a unique feature that allows you to quickly check how far the storm center is from major cities/ports.
5. TropicalWX.com has no graphics but does provide an extensive collection of links to useful information for the Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico including links to local radar sites, weather buoys, satellite photos and even web cams.

Other Useful Tropical Cyclone tracking Sites

• Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) – University of Wisconsin – This is an excellent site for the more technical user with numerous overlays of meteorological analysis tools, satellite photos and surface observations.

• IBISEYE allows you to track active or past tropical depressions, tropical storms, or hurricanes for the North Atlantic.  It also provides links for the latest storm news, local storm alerts; and allows satellite and weather observation overlays.

• Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) – University of Wisconsin This is an excellent site for the more technical user with numerous meteorological analysis tools, satellite photos and surface observations.

• gCaptain’s Tropical Storm Dashboard offers a Quick look at current Atlantic and East Pac hurricane graphics.

• Unisys Hurricane Data page provides an extensive global archive of current and past tropical cyclones.

• Pen State’s Operational Model Displays for the North Atlantic and East Pacific Basins provides links to several operational computer models.  (More for the technical user)
• NOAA listing of World Tropical Cyclone Centers with links.

image (c) LT John Jackson, Royal Navy

This is the South Atlantic (almost) at its most unforgiving as the “Fortress of the Sea” ploughed west for the Falklands from South Africa.

(ROYAL NAVY) The Portsmouth-based destroyer faced some mountainous seas on the 4,000-mile passage from Cape Town to Mare Harbour, her base for the next five or so months as she patrols Britain’s South Atlantic territories.

We’re told that all aboard the Type 42 suffered at the hands of Nature, but Lt John Jackson steadied his nerve to capture this wall of water seen through the bridge window.

It was a far cry from the rather benign weather the ship experienced in Cape Town where even in the depths of the austral winter, it’s typically in the mid-60s˚F by day.

Aside from giving her ship’s company a break after a lengthy sail down the West African seaboard, the chief reason for the visit to South Africa’s famous port was to support British defence firms at a trade and industry day.

The companies used the destroyer as the backdrop for their displays and demonstration of their products to members of the South African Armed Forces and government.

Meanwhile, one fifth of the ship’s company made the 20-mile trip to Simon’s Town, home of the South African Navy, who were holding their Navy Winter Sports Day.

Edinburgh’s sailors were invited to take part in six events, including basketball, rugby and netball.

Honours were even between the two nations as each was victorious in three of the disciplines.

There were also opportunities for Edinburgh’s sailors to explore the Western Cape, including climbing Table Mountain and the (strangely) popular winemaking region of Stellenbosch.

“Cape Town has a long history of supporting vessels on lengthy ocean passages and I was glad to see that the welcome is as warm as ever,” said Edinburgh’s Commanding Officer, Cdr Paul Russell.

“The Royal Navy also has an historic association with the South African Navy and it was great to be able to reaffirm those links as well.”

The ship’s now safely in the Falklands where temperatures are just above freezing and the wind is, as ever, relentless.

When her duties in the Falklands and South Georgia are done, Edinburgh will carry out a number of high-profile visits in South America, the Caribbean and the USA, before sailing home to Portsmouth in time for Christmas.

Do you have a story about severe weather? Be sure to leave your comments below!

Also, Check Out our previous maritime poll questions.

With help from data collected by the GOES 13 weather satellite, NOAA has put together this video showing the entire 2010 Atlantic Hurricane season summed up in a four-minute video.  The video shows infrared imagery for the extent of the official season from June 1 through November 30.

Being termed the ‘gentle giant’, the 2010 Hurricane Season was just that; giant in the sense that it had the third highest number of named storms, and gentle in the sense that the U.S. was spared any landfall from a major storm.  Here are some details from NOAA’s summary of the 2010 Atlantic Hurricane season:

In the Atlantic Basin a total of 19 named storms formed – tied with 1887 and 1995 for third highest on record. Of those, 12 became hurricanes – tied with 1969 for second highest on record. Five of those reached major hurricane status of Category 3 or higher.

These totals are within the ranges predicted in NOAA’s seasonal outlooks issued on May 27 (14-23 named storms; 8-14 hurricanes; 3-7 major hurricanes) and August 5 (14-20 named storms; 8-12 hurricanes; 4-6 major hurricanes). An average Atlantic season produces 11 named storms, six hurricanes and two major hurricanes.

READ: NOAA – Extremely Active Atlantic Hurricane Season was a ‘Gentle Giant’ for U.S.

Similar to the Atlantic Hurricane season, the Western Pacific is under constant threat of devastating typhoon’s nearly year-round.  This threat has lead a Japanese company to develop a new technology that, in theory, will reduce the impact of typhoons on coastal communities and shorelines.  Popular Science has the details:

Under the plan, a fleet of about 20 subs would dive some 100 feet below the surface just in front of an approaching storm. Each submarine would be fitted with eight pumps capable of quickly dumping more than 500 tons of chilled water per minute into the water above. According to Ise Kogyo, the company behind the idea, 20 submarines could quickly lower the temperature of more than 600,000 square feet of water to the point that a storm’s strength would be diminished. Read Article

If you’ve followed this blog long enough, you may remember a similar technology presented by Bill Gates that, instead of submarines, uses a barge system to pump cold water up from the bottom of the ocean and warm water down from the surface.  The theory?  Cool the surface temperature of the ocean = reduce the intesity of an incoming hurricane.

Let us know what you think.  Could this technology potentionally work or are the risk factors associated with tampering with mother nature just too high?  Join the ongoing discussion in the gCaptain forum HERE.

[Image: US Navy via Popular Science, Shout-out to Dudek]

For those of you that have been following this blog long enough know that cruise ships + foul weather = bad news for the passengers and crew.  Although the video has just hit the web, the incident occurred in August 2008 when P&O’s Pacific Sun cruise ship encountered 23ft. seas and 50 knot winds about 400 miles off the coast of New Zealand.

Having worked a brief stint in the hotel business myself, I can only imagine the complaints that must have been flying in… but the real question is who secured the ship for sea? 23′ seas in not uncommon and mariners on the north atlantic run frequently see wave heights twice that size with little to no carnage to report. Do cruise ships just expect to avoid inclemate weather 100% of the time? Where they acting reckless by not securing for sea? Leave your answers (and heavy weather sea stories) in the comments section below.

For some more of gCaptain’s coverage of cruise ships in rough weather, CLICK HERE.

(Via Scuttlefish)