From the early looks of it, Hurricane Gustav might become a big problem by Monday morning. I'll keep you updated on forecasts and discussions here throughout the weekend as information becomes available.

8/30/08, Monday, 1:00 AM CDT

GUSTAV STARTING TO INTERACT WITH LAND, BRINGING TROPICAL STORM WINDS TO GULF COAST.

Sorry about the lack of updates today. We've been doing everything to get good information for our shows. Information has been fast and furious throughout the day and they probably will be on Monday too.

Gustav has slown a bit, but that really isn't going to change much other than timing of landfall. It looks to be a category three at landfall probably in the middle of the afternoon Monday. This trend is expected to continue until landfall.

To this point the biggest gust I've heard is 43 mph and that was in Florida if I recall correctly. There have been heavy rains from South Central Louisiana to the Panhandle of Florida throughout much of the night as I've been noticing on Titan Live Doppler.

The storm is very large and you can see the extent of the winds in the current stats at the bottom.

There is a Tornado Watch for the Gulf Coast through the morning and that will probably be extended and made larger after about 7 am.

Rainfall amounts may reach 20 inches in some places but much of the area will see 6 to 12 inches of rain by the end of the day on Wednesday. A big concern is the rain with the Storm Surge. High tide is expected at the same time of landfall. That would cause the pressure on the levees to be increased. One more thing we are watching.

Hurricane warnings are in effect from east of High Island, Texas (near Galveston) to the Alabama-Florida Border. Tropical storm warnings are in effect from the Alabama-Florida Border to the Ochlokonee River.

Currently, I'm hoping for a few things. The first is that the storm gets out of the gulf in a hurry. That would keep it from getting stronger and also get the oil rigs up and running quicker. Also, I'm hoping that some natural barrier or something deflects this storm surge and that the levees hold. Really anymore preparation isn't going to help at this point so we'll see how far we've come from Katrina just three years ago.

Current Stats From The National Hurricane Center:

Pressure: 955mb
Winds: 115 mph
Movement: Northwest Near 15 mph
Hurricane Force Winds Extend 70 miles from the center.
Tropical Storm Winds Extend 220 miles from the center.
Expected Storm Surge: 10 to 14 feet