KEY POINTS:
Yet another major Atlantic hurricane is on the way for America and it may again hit regions still recovering from Gustav. At the time of writing this blog Hurricane Ike was a dangerous Category 4 hurricane with winds sustained at a massive 217km/h and gusting even higher.
Ike is currently moving through the Bahamas and is likely to squeeze through the Florida Strait - between Cuba and Florida during Tuesday and Wednesday NZT. Ike has about 3 possible courses:
1) He'll move over Cuba. This would seriously eat away at Ike's power but would be a double blow to Cuba who's still mopping up from Gustav - which passed over as a Cat 4 storm last week.
2) Ike will move through the Florida Strait, brushing the northern coastline of Cuba. Remaining over the open waters would ensure he stayed around the Category 3 or 4 mark - seriously impacting both Cuba and southern Florida.
3) Ike will track further north across the Florida Keys - perhaps sparing Cuba from the worth, but causing a big blow for the this major tourist detination. For those who don't know, the Florida Keys is a narrow band of islands that tracks south west from the southern tip of Florida. These islands are just a metre or two above sea level and it doesn't take much of storm surge to put them completely under water.
To see Ike's current projected path and the latest satellite image (updated hourly) click here.
But, much like a week ago, all eyes will be on New Orleans. While the projected paths don't go out more than a few days you can clearly see that New Orleans is certainly in Ike's potential path. In fact anywhere from Texas to Mobile Alabama will be on high alert now as they watch this monster storm moving in.
Residents of New Orleans may be taking some comfort, however, in the fact that Ike seems to be moving south west rather than north west. The further south he tracks the further west he's likely to go - taking him past New Orleans and closer to Texas or Mexico. Hurricanes usually track westwards then eventually turn and head north, then north east. This is similar to many of our tropical cyclones that start off moving west then head south, then eventually turn in a south east direction (the mirror opposite of the northern hemisphere).
Head to the Weather Watch Centre for all the latest news and images on Ike throughout this week.
Back to New Zealand quickly - and this week we're in for a real "mixed bag" of typical spring weather. A large area of low pressure will stall off our west coast meaning a number of showery, windy, days will be on the way for many - in fact the low will be of stark contrast to the huge high we had last week.
The eastern coast of the North Island will be the place to be - anywhere from Tauranga to Napier, where mainly clear skies will prevail along with a warm westerly that may see temperatures jumping into the lower 20s.
Philip Duncan
Pictured above: This image shows Hurricane Ike in the lower left. Hurricane Ike roared across the low-lying Turks and Caicos Islands before dawn Sunday as people in the British territory sought refuge in boarded-up homes or shelters. AP Photo / NOAA
For the latest weather news keep up to date with The Radio Network's new Weather Watch Centre or the NZ Herald weather section.
