via The Weather Underground (No, not the 70s jackasses that liked to bomb innocent people and stuff. . .actual weather people.)
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, just when you thought your favorite blogger was out of the woods, it turns out that Mother Nature just isn't done screwing with him yet. Contrary to what Fay was, Gustav is shaping up to be a real, honest-to-goodness major hurricane. That little dot in the picture above with the label "2 PM Monday" next to it? Yeah. . .that's about 40-50 miles from where Mrs. Gonzo and I live. The fact that that particular dot is colored red means that we're looking at a Category 3 hurricane, which (according to the Saffir-Simpson Scale of hurricane classification) means sustained winds of between 96 and 113 knots (or 111 to 130 miles/hour, for you non-Air Force Weather types), and the gusts are set to kick up into the 150 MPH range. If the hurricane continues upon its current track, it will be more devestating to this particular area because we'll catch the right-front quadrant of the storm, which is where all of the most severe weather associated with hurricanes takes place (highest winds, most rainfall, greatest storm surge, 94% of tornadoes spawned). I, personally, think that the storm might be even worse than a Cat 3, what with the temperatures of the waters in the Gulf of Mexico and the weakening of the high pressure that had been pushing Gustav towards the south, but I'm not going to bore everyone with a huge weather discussion here.
Basically, we're just waiting for an evacuation order to come down. When (and as of now, it appears to be a matter of "when" and not a matter of "if") it does, Mrs. Gonzo and I are going to grab our two dogs, a few of our possessions, some clothes, and hit the road north. How far north? Don't know yet. . .far enough north to get the hell out of Gustav's way, that's for sure.
Obviously, this is going to affect a few things. . .first and foremost (as it relates to this site) being the draft for the DN Fantasy Football League. As of now, the draft is scheduled to take place on Friday, 29 August at 7:00 PM Central. (I really should have put some thought towards having the draft before now. . .c'est la vie.) If the draft is going to be moved, someone's going to have to start a discussion (preferably via a FanPost) so the time can be discussed. If it's going to be later than Friday, there's a very good chance that I won't be able to be there live. If I am, I am. . .if I'm not, I'm not, and I apologize in advance for not being there.
(Also, as of now, it certainly doesn't look like I'm going to have time to set up any additional leagues. Sorry, gang. . .maybe next year.)
Speaking of FanPosts, if I'm down for a few days, I'm going to have to ask you folks in the DN community to step up and post mucho stories in my absence. I might not be able to update the site, but that's the beauty of this site and the rest of the SBNation 2.0 blogs. . .YOU can update the site any time you see fit! Questions, stories, debates, whatever you all want to throw up here. . .if I'm gone for a few days, I'm going to need your help, and I have a feeling that you all will step up.
That's all for now, folks. I'm going to do a little shopping and put gas in the car. Maybe I'll be back here later tonight, but I'll definitely be back tomorrow.