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CNN Live At Daybreak
Hurricane Isidore Possibly Heading Toward U.S.
Aired September 23, 2002 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Hurricane Isidore may have weakened after brushing Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, but still, signs are pointing to its strengthening, possibly now heading toward the U.S. Sustained winds have dropped from 120 miles an hour to 75 miles an hour.
For a look at where Isidore might go, we're joined on the telephone again with Daniel Brown. He's a meteorologist with the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
Thanks for getting back on the line with us this morning, Daniel.
Let's go over again what you think is going to happen to Isidore. You're expecting Isidore to gain some strength here pretty soon.
DANIEL BROWN, METEOROLOGIST, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: That's correct. It looks like the center will move back out over the Gulf waters later today. At that point, we think that it will begin to re- strengthen, and eventually move more to the northwest and eventually northward. And again, it could threaten the northwest Gulf Coast as we get towards the mid to late part of the week.
CALLAWAY: What part of the Gulf Coast? That's a big area. I mean, we think of storms in the past when they hit that Gulf really do gain some strength in those warm waters. So you know, I'm not trying to tie you down here, but what area? Say, if you lived in Louisiana, Daniel, would you be packing your stuff up and heading out?
BROWN: It looks like if I were living, you know, anywhere in the northwest Gulf there, I would make sure I have my hurricane supplies ready and have a plan of action in case it becomes a threat. It looks like that's the area that kind of is in the general path that we think it could take. It's still a few days away, so things can change between now and the middle part of the week.
CALLAWAY: Right. Is this an unpredictable storm? You know, once it hits into the Gulf, will you be able to tell clearly what's going to happen?
BROWN: It's -- you know, this is sort of an inexact science. We do the best we can, and we think that our computer models have gotten much better. So as we get closer and closer to the mid part of the week, the computer models should begin to converge toward one solution.
So, right now, it's still many possibilities, but hopefully towards the middle part of the week, we'll be able to precisely pinpoint exactly where we think it will effect.
CALLAWAY: One time, we saw the winds up to 120; now down to about 75. What do you -- where could this storm grow? What category could we place this one in eventually?
BROWN: It made landfall as a category 3 yesterday, and like I said, it's weakened down to basically a minimal hurricane right now. But once it goes back over the water, we feel like that it could re- intensify to a category 3 by, you know, Tuesday or Wednesday.
CALLAWAY: Yes, that's a significant storm, 5 being the toughest.
All right, thank you, Daniel. We'll be back with you later on, I'm quite sure.
That's Daniel Brown. He's with the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired September 23, 2002 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Hurricane Isidore may have weakened after brushing Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, but still, signs are pointing to its strengthening, possibly now heading toward the U.S. Sustained winds have dropped from 120 miles an hour to 75 miles an hour.
For a look at where Isidore might go, we're joined on the telephone again with Daniel Brown. He's a meteorologist with the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
Thanks for getting back on the line with us this morning, Daniel.
Let's go over again what you think is going to happen to Isidore. You're expecting Isidore to gain some strength here pretty soon.
DANIEL BROWN, METEOROLOGIST, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: That's correct. It looks like the center will move back out over the Gulf waters later today. At that point, we think that it will begin to re- strengthen, and eventually move more to the northwest and eventually northward. And again, it could threaten the northwest Gulf Coast as we get towards the mid to late part of the week.
CALLAWAY: What part of the Gulf Coast? That's a big area. I mean, we think of storms in the past when they hit that Gulf really do gain some strength in those warm waters. So you know, I'm not trying to tie you down here, but what area? Say, if you lived in Louisiana, Daniel, would you be packing your stuff up and heading out?
BROWN: It looks like if I were living, you know, anywhere in the northwest Gulf there, I would make sure I have my hurricane supplies ready and have a plan of action in case it becomes a threat. It looks like that's the area that kind of is in the general path that we think it could take. It's still a few days away, so things can change between now and the middle part of the week.
CALLAWAY: Right. Is this an unpredictable storm? You know, once it hits into the Gulf, will you be able to tell clearly what's going to happen?
BROWN: It's -- you know, this is sort of an inexact science. We do the best we can, and we think that our computer models have gotten much better. So as we get closer and closer to the mid part of the week, the computer models should begin to converge toward one solution.
So, right now, it's still many possibilities, but hopefully towards the middle part of the week, we'll be able to precisely pinpoint exactly where we think it will effect.
CALLAWAY: One time, we saw the winds up to 120; now down to about 75. What do you -- where could this storm grow? What category could we place this one in eventually?
BROWN: It made landfall as a category 3 yesterday, and like I said, it's weakened down to basically a minimal hurricane right now. But once it goes back over the water, we feel like that it could re- intensify to a category 3 by, you know, Tuesday or Wednesday.
CALLAWAY: Yes, that's a significant storm, 5 being the toughest.
All right, thank you, Daniel. We'll be back with you later on, I'm quite sure.
That's Daniel Brown. He's with the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
