Here we go again...Here in NYC, while George is up here clearing his throat for the big speech tonight, I'll be watching the weather news instead, and keeping all of you in my thoughts. I think some of the Florida delegates have been trying to get home to be with family and friends.
Hang in there and stay as safe as you can. Our very first thoughts are with you.

Janeg, no there will be no locusts at Xmas , rest easy. I think they are all swarming over Northern Africa, where the swarms are so big they can be viewed by Satellites.

Scarlett, I love your spirit and sense of humor!
Hold on to it for the End of Hurricane season party, Maybe I can come down and crash it, because we just lost a bunch of stuff in the Gaston floods in Virginia. A miniature (if muddy) loss to be sure, since we only went down in summer.

Take very good care of yourselves, I'm thinking of you all.

My neighbor just drove from Orlando to Tampa -- it took her 4 hrs. (usually 1:15).

But hey! I'm hearing that this thing is starting to get a little ragged and undefined. I'm praying that's a silver lining in the cloud. Maybe it will dissipate. Maybe....

The Weather Underground site says that Frances has gone down to a strong Cat 3 Hurricane..at 125 mph winds.
I hope she continues to weaken and none of us will suffer from this storm.
Fingers Crossed !

I've heard the storm will re-gain force and be a Cat. 4 for landfall. But...what I'm hearing is that landfall is now pushed back to 8P on Saturday. And the winds are predicted to be hurricane force through most of its passage across Florida (>80mph) but will diminish to tropical storm force (60mph) about 2/3s of the way across the state. This is great news for people in Tampa. I don't know about storm surge, what it will be. There is still going to be a lot of flooding. 10-14" of rain -- egads.

Everyone hold tight. Keep those little boats handy.

Hoping everyone is holding on there and is safe, Now thry're saying 20" rain possible.
Please let it diminish back to a 3! Thoughts and prayers for all of you in FLorida!

Best of luck to all ya'll in Flaarda, and to all the volunteers and first responders. I really hope to hear some good news from OO, Scarlett, Tandoori, Patrick, et al soon! You're in our thoughts and prayers. As Bill Murray exhorted in Stripes, "Lighten up, Frances!!"

Hey Scarlett, we need to postpone that Hurricane Party to December because the season doesn't end until then. Actually, there was a hurricane and a tropical storm last mid December. Who knows?

T.D. Ivan is being watched. sigh!

There's a TD Ivan? Where's it at?

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh.../031437.shtml?

Thanks, hibiscus. I've been so busy watching Frances that I didn't realize there was another one lurking my way. I'll have to keep an eye on Ivan, but am more concerned with Florida facing Frances at the moment. Stay safe everyone!

FYI for Statia:
http://www.nrlmry.navy.mil/tc_pages/..._gif_full.html

Where is your home again?

Dear Statia, do let us know how Ivan looks from there.
Stay safe *hugs* S~

Hibiscus, thanks for the link. I'm on St. Eustatius in the northern Leewards, right between St. Maarten and St. Kitts. So, it looks as if this one is going to pass south of us, which is good news, as long as it stays small. If it becomes large, we will be on the northern (worst) side. We definitely have to keep a close eye on it.

Thanks Scarlett. I'm glad to hear that things are still fine in your area and that it doesn't look like you'll get too much from Frances. I've been keeping up with the news all day and West Palm and Melbourne are looking pretty bad, and the center isn't even over land yet.