Our lovely house guest just returned from a quick trip to the hotel zone to check on his house. Good news all around. There is some flooding, but there is always a little after the simplest rain. Their house was totally dry thank goodness, no harm done. A few trees and signs are down, but NO major damage seen at all. He has said that there is some flooding in Dreams Cancun as well. My husband just chatted with a friend who lives in Bonfil (a “suburb” of Cancun) and she said all is well, just the normal flooding from a little rain.

posted by CancunCanuck

Well, that was a non-event, lol. Not even any big winds, not a darned thing happened. A bit of a let down but more of a relief than anything. I think it proved that Cancun is absolutely prepared for a catastrophic hurricane, everyone calmly gathered their supplies, got as many tourists out as possible and battened down the hatches. It might be a case of the Boy Who Cried Wolf, but I for one am glad for the drill. If we are going to live in an area prone to such events, it’s good to know that we can handle them. Thanks to the residents of Cancun, all my friends here and our online support, thank you all.

It appears that Dean hit land around Majahual, a good thing in terms of the amount of damage he could do. He stayed away from really populated areas, now we just need to see what the environmental damage will be. Yes, there are people living in that area and I hope they are all safe and sound and under the protection of the government of Quintana Roo. We actually just saw a weather report that is predicting a partially sunny day, so I guess it’s back to normal for us in Cancun.

Ok, off to clean up the mess of five adults, two kids, two dogs and a cat. Here’s your “good morning” video……

posted by CancunCanuck aka Kelly

An update of sorts from various local news sources reporting from the Cancun area as Hurricane Dean passes through the Southern Yucatan. The Cancun Airport remains open though the last departures may have been around 7:30 PM last night. The airport hopes to open for arrivals later this morning, particulalrly those with potential humanitarian aid for points south in the Costa Maya area. No word on when the first Commercial Airline arrivals are expected.

Weather continues to be light to heavy rain, winds gusting upwards to 25 MPH with thunder and lightning sporadically as Dean’s outer bands continue to whip Cancun. Wave heights are estimated at upwards of 18 Feet.

Posted by Dangers…

In a Little Cafe…

(Jim)

Posted By Dangers

In A Little Cafe…

(Jim)

HURRICANE DEAN DISCUSSION NUMBER  33
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL   AL042007
500 AM EDT TUE AUG 21 2007

DEAN MADE LANDFALL ON THE EAST COAST OF THE YUCATAN PENINSULA NEAR
THE CRUISE SHIP PORT OF COSTA MAYA AROUND 0830 UTC…AND THE EYE IS
NOW JUST INLAND.  OBSERVATIONS FROM AN AIR FORCE HURRICANE HUNTER
PLANE INDICATE THAT THE HURRICANE WAS INTENSIFYING RIGHT UP TO
LANDFALL.  A PEAK FLIGHT-LEVEL WIND OF 165 KT WAS MEASURED JUST
NORTH OF THE EYE.  MAXIMUM SURFACE WINDS FROM THE SFMR WERE 124
KT…BUT IT IS HIGHLY LIKELY THAT THE MAXIMUM SURFACE WIND SPEED
WAS NOT REPORTED BY THE SFMR INSTRUMENT.  A GPS DROPSONDE IN THE
NORTHERN EYEWALL MEASURED A WIND SPEED OF 178 KT AVERAGED OVER THE
LOWEST 150 METERS OF THE SOUNDING.  BASED ON THE DROPSONDE AND THE
FLIGHT-LEVEL WINDS…THE INTENSITY IS SET AT 145 KT.  A DROPSONDE
IN THE EYE MEASURED A CENTRAL PRESSURE OF 906 MB JUST PRIOR TO
LANDFALL.  SOME HISTORIC NOTES ARE IN ORDER HERE.  THE 906 MB
CENTRAL PRESSURE IS THE NINTH LOWEST ON RECORD FOR AN ATLANTIC
BASIN HURRICANE…AND THE THIRD LOWEST AT LANDFALL BEHIND THE 1935
LABOR DAY HURRICANE IN THE FLORIDA KEYS AND HURRICANE GILBERT OF
1988 IN CANCUN MEXICO.  DEAN IS ALSO THE FIRST CATEGORY FIVE
HURRICANE TO MAKE LANDFALL IN THE ATLANTIC BASIN SINCE ANDREW OF
1992.

DEAN WILL WEAKEN AS IT TRAVERSES THE YUCATAN PENINSULA AND
THE AMOUNT OF WEAKENING WILL DEPEND ON HOW LONG THE CENTER REMAINS
OVER LAND.  OUR CURRENT THINKING IS THAT THE CYCLONE WILL STILL BE
A BORDERLINE CAT 1/2 HURRICANE WHEN IT EMERGES OVER THE BAY OF
CAMPECHE…BUT THERE IS CONSIDERABLE UNCERTAINTY IN THIS FORECAST.
ASSUMING THAT THE INNER CORE IS NOT TOO DISRUPTED BY ITS
INTERACTION WITH LAND…DEAN SHOULD REGAIN MAJOR HURRICANE STATUS
BEFORE ITS FINAL LANDFALL IN MAINLAND MEXICO.

INITIAL MOTION IS ESTIMATED TO BE 285/17.  DEEP LAYER HIGH PRESSURE
NEAR THE NORTHERN GULF COAST SHOULD STEER THE HURRICANE ON A
WEST-NORTHWESTWARD TO WESTWARD HEADING FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS.
THE OFFICIAL TRACK FORECAST IS SIMILAR TO THE PREVIOUS ONE.

THE HURRICANE WARNING IS EXTENDED WESTWARD ALONG THE BAY OF CAMPECHE
COASTLINE OF MEXICO.

Posted By Dangers

 In a Little Cafe…

(Jim)

I shouldn’t be awake right now. When we went to sleep around 1 am, not much was happening, there were occasional strong wind gusts but not much else. And so I went to sleep with the window near my bed open (and with a cat sitting on the windowsill).

At about 3 am I was woken up by rain being blown in the window and all over me (the cat was no where to be seen). The wind was blowing very hard, it was pouring down rain and there was thunder and lightning. So I got up and closed the window.

At 3:15 am the BBC called my cell phone wanting a live report. I told them what could be seen and surmised from looking out my bedroom window.

Since waking I’ve prowled around the house and have not found any water coming in and, for now, there is no flooding outside my house. In the past hour we’ve had several rounds of heavy rains accompanied by fierce winds, a few moments ago the rain was pounding down on us from the east at a 45 degree angle.

But right now, right this minute, it’s perfectly quiet. There’s no rain, no wind, there are no car alarms going off, no dogs barking…oh, now I hear one of my cats meowing…and here comes the wind again…

Cancun is getting the outer bands of Hurricane Dean, which is why we have periods of calm followed by crazy wind and rain.

Amazingly we still have power, although it just flickered for the umpteenth time, so it may go out yet. I’ve got to get some more sleep now, I will post again when I wake up.

Posted by RiverGirl

RiverGirl’s Blog

I just wanted to post quickly before one of three possible things happen: 1. I fall into a coma from being totally exhausted. 2. They actually do shut off the power in Cancun. 3. Hurricane Dean finally hits.

We are expecting heavy rains, strong winds and possible street flooding here in Cancun. But my home and family are ready for this monster. Now that the preparations are done we just need to catch up on normal things like eating meals, taking showers, feeding pets and rest.

My thoughts and prayers go to the people south of us who will take the brunt of Hurricane Dean’s wrath.

Mahajual, which has one of the most beautiful beaches on earth, is set to take a serious beating in this storm. And Chetumal, which is the capital of the state of Quintana Roo (Mexico’s eastern-most state and home of Cancun, Cozumel and the Riviera Maya), is facing it’s worst hurricane in many years. I’ve heard that in Chetumal’s last major hurricane some of the homes (made of wood) literally floated off their foundations and were set down elsewhere. I can even imagine.

I’m not sure how long I’ll have power and internet. But I will post again as soon as possible (well, as soon as possible after I get some sleep).

Posted by RiverGirl

RiverGirl’s Blog

Ok, good night REALLY this time…..I will leave you with this….

posted by CancunCanuck aka Kelly

Well, it’s 11:50pm in downtown Cancun and so far not that much has happened at all. We are supposed to be experiencing the most intense part of the storm in a couple of hours. I think we may get a few bumps and gusts yet, but right now things are quiet. Is it the lull before the storm or do we escape unscathed?

We did have a storm around 9pm which lasted around half an hour, and looked likely to be just the start. But it died away, we had some lights flicker but that didnt last long either. It’s not even rained here for two hours. I just went outside and we dont even have puddles in the street. Seriously! Winds are light and the only noise I can hear is a slight rustling of treetops and the hum of air con units.

Looking at the wind speed probabilities in Cancun for winds greater than 50 knots, the National Hurricane Center’s map shows a 0% chance for Cancun. And judging by what I see outside they are very much spot on.

It’s been a long day today, around 16 hours online. I’m off to sleep. If anything wakes me I’ll get out of bed and post but I’m starting to hope this may well be the most welcome anticlimax Cancun has seen in it’s short history.
Posted by Steve

Live Cancun Webcam | Cancun Message Board

One last post before I head to my bed. Things are still really calm here, no rain or wind to speak of. We all just said “Good night, see you in a couple of hours” as we suspect that the bad weather will get us out of bed when it hits. I doubt we’ll have power then, so we’ll rely on our fearless US poster Dangers to keep you updated.

Some of you have asked about Cozumel, I haven’t heard anything to speak of, sorry. I think a lot of people got off the island in the last few days and they will have battened down the hatches. If anyone has info, post a comment and let us know. G’night for now, hopefully I’ll be checking in soon.

posted by CancunCanuck at 11:37 local time