Hurricane Ike seems to like lower Texas coast

The New Orleans Region is out!

The new model runs set the sites of Hurricane Ike on the lower Texas coast and Louisiana's coast line including the New Orleans region is no longer in the cone of uncertainty.

The storm is having a tough time with the Cuban coastline as it pushes its way through the Golfo de Matamano.

It is aiming over the Sierra de la Guira -- a favorite bird watching area and preserve with pine, cedar and mahogany forests. It will apparently pass almost directly over San Diego de la Banos.

You can watch its progress on this radar on the Isle of Pines, just across the bay from the center of the storm. Or from Casblanca, Cuba radar which shows the lower Florida coast which is getting bands from the storm as it passes by.

Of course, the National Weather Service radar in Miami gives the same view from the U.S. side.

--steve buser