00:00Aaron, you've been putting on many, many, many miles this year.
00:03I know internationally with typhoons, you've had to travel a pretty good distance to find hurricanes or hurricane equivalents this
00:10year away from the Atlantic.
00:12But our unfortunate wait has ended.
00:15At least fortunately, we've had to wait this long, but unfortunately, we are going to be dealing with a landfalling
00:19hurricane.
00:20So, Aaron, how are things going right now in Mobile a couple of days out from landfall?
00:25Yeah, Jeff, well, you hit the nail on the head.
00:27I mean, other than our neighbors in Hawaii, we have been just incredibly quiet throughout this tropical season, which is
00:34such a rarity, especially for this time of year.
00:37But unfortunately, as you pointed out, that time clock ran out.
00:41And talking to some of the residents around here, I think a lot of the folks kind of thought they
00:44were going to get off scotch-free this year with El Nino being in place and it being so late
00:48in the season.
00:49I mean, we were on the tail end of that season to where it cuts off and we start to
00:52transition into the fall and winter months.
00:55But unfortunately, 2026 is not going to go out quietly.
00:58But that's what brings me today is to talk about this specific tropical system is that whether this comes on
01:03shore as a Category 2 hurricane, Category 1 hurricane, or if it gets sheared apart into a strong tropical storm,
01:08which is a possibility still on the table, the impacts are what you need to be focused on.
01:13And they are going to be significant no matter what the category of this hurricane is when it comes on
01:17shore.
01:18Now, right now, they're expected to be about seven feet of storm surge.
01:22And we've talked about that many times.
01:23That's one of my specialties while out chasing and how destructive that storm surge can be for some perspective on
01:29that, too.
01:29I'm six foot tall.
01:30And if we hit the higher echelon of that seven foot storm surge total, that's a wall of water about
01:35a foot taller than I am that is coming along this very fragile coastline.
01:40And this particular area, anywhere from, you know, Biloxi, Mississippi, really all the way to Pensacola, Florida, is one of
01:46the most storm surge prone areas in the entire world.
01:49So it doesn't take much to cause significant impacts.
01:52And on top of that, we're going to be dealing with upwards of a foot of rainfall.
01:55And not only can we be dealing with tornadoes, we could be dealing with a tornado outbreak from this.
02:00And if this landfall comes overnight, we're talking about overnight tornadoes with minimal lightning because it's associated with that tropical
02:07system.
02:07So we have a variety of dangerous hazards ahead, despite whatever the category is when it makes landfall.
02:13It's going to be a nasty night, Friday night, very concerned about the tornado threat, which will continue during the
02:17day as well.
02:18But chasing tropical tornadoes is very different from what got you into storm chasing in the Midwest and the plains
02:26when it comes to supercellular thunderstorms and the tornadoes associated with them.
02:31So will you even try to chase these tornadoes?
02:34What's your game plan for landfall and then maybe the day or two following?
02:39Well, right now, my game plan is I'm going to kind of sit right in the middle of where both
02:43of the extreme hazards are going to be.
02:45And that's going to be located on the Dolphin Island, which is about 45 minutes south of Mobile.
02:49That particular area I am concerned about, especially if we see a more western track on the edge of the
02:54cone that we've been discussing,
02:55because that's going to put that area that is a barrier island in the northeast quadrant of that storm surge,
03:01which is exactly what I target as a storm chaser, because the opportunities and the awareness that it can bring
03:08by having boots on the ground coverage along those barrier islands
03:12and seeing the effects of storm surge onto buildings, I really believe that that footage and that information can help
03:18lead to not only advance warning times in the future,
03:21but to help build better infrastructures to see how storm surge interacts with these barrier islands and the buildings.
03:27Now, one good thing I did see today a little bit further west in Slidell, Louisiana,
03:31is folks are already starting to take their preparations for not just the storm surge, but the flash flooding threat
03:36as well.
03:36We saw piles of sand that were being set up. A lot of the residents were not taking any chances.
03:41They were filling up their sandbags to protect their homes and their belongings from any kind of floodwater or storm
03:47surge related incidents,
03:48which is a very promising sign to see. But I will say, Jeff, in Gulfport, there is a very, very
03:54large car show going on right now.
03:56And I really hope that in the next 24 hours, the proper precautions are being taken because there are hundreds
04:03of people down there,
04:04including dozens and dozens of large RVs and campers. And even if they don't get the storm surge,
04:09we're still talking about winds in excess of 70, 80, even potentially approaching 100 miles an hour.
04:14And as you very well know, high top vehicles do not bode well in conditions like that.
04:18Yeah, very dangerous place to be during strong winds of any nature.
04:22Storm chaser Aaron Rigsby. Aaron, thanks so much. Always good to see you.
04:24We'll be talking to you quite a bit over the next few days.
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