Brown pelicans are seen in the Breton Sound of the Gulf of Mexico (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
On Saturday, the strong winds and high waves had caused the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico to triple in size. The weather pattern will shift the winds and spread the current slick farther east. A State of Emergency has been declared for Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.
Currently 200,000 gallons of oil per day are leaking into the Gulf of Mexico water. 1.6 million gallons have leaked since the April 20th explosion. The slick is 130 miles long and 70 miles wide. That is equivalent to 2.5 Olympic swimming pools. That may not seem like much compared to the size of the Gulf, but most of that is spread out along the surface.
Due to the expected strong winds (see the wind forecast model for the Gulf coast) from the south this weekend, more oil will continue to work onshore and into the marsh areas of southern Louisiana. See more in the slide show below. This has caused the oil to spread much farther and faster than any efforts to contain it.
See how a local bird rescue operation is one of two in the nation capable of helping local wildlife.
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High Pressure off of the East Coast has brought near record heat to the Mid Atlantic states, including Baltimore, while pumping up strong southerly winds along the Gulf of Mexico. The cold front that will follow has already brought heavy rain to the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, and will continue to increase the waves and spread of the oil. The winds will shift to a southwest and westerly flow over the next few days. This will push the oil spill area towards the Florida coast. While there was a mention of the East Coast, the oil that continues to pump out of an open pipe would have to spread around southern Florida and the Keys before reaching the Gulf Stream. It would be difficult for that to actually make it to the East Coast beaches before getting pushed out to sea, so that is a worst case scenario. Note: Just last year, Ocean City was reported one of the cleanest beaches in the nation.
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Comments
I'm hoping that those in charge of the situation will learn alot from this tragedy. The domino effect is going to be felt for a long time.
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