I hate hurricanes. I know they have a role in carrying heat from the tropics to the poles, but I still hate them. We are in the climatological peak for hurricanes in the North Atlantic, and after a brief lull, things are starting to heat up again. There are some ominous signs on the horizon.
OPHELIA: No problem here. Tropical Storm Ophelia made her closest approach to southeastern Massachusetts this morning, passing less than 100 miles southeast of the island of Nantucket. The storm will quickly lose tropical characteristics as it moves rapidly northeast heading toward the British Isles by midweek.
TROPICS STORY #2: Satellite imagery this morning indicates that Tropical Depression Seventeen has formed 370 miles east of the Windward Islands. The pulsing blob of thunderstorms has been gradually getting better organized under a more favorable upper wind pattern. This system is forecast by the GFDL (one of our more reliable tropical system models) to rapidly become a tropical storm and then a hurricane.
It is moving to the northwest. Interests in the Leeward Islands have been advised to monitor the storm. Air Force reconnaissance will investigate this afternoon. Warnings may be required there llater today. The GFDL also forecasts a quick turn to the north to the east of the islands and no threat to the U.S., which is good news
TROPICS STORY #3: This one will turn out to be the biggest story of the three. Low pressure north of the Greater Antilles may become a tropical depression north of the Dominican Republic during the next twenty four hours. This depression is forecast by the GFDL model to become a hurricane by Sunday night. It will pass across the Central Bahamas Monday evening and just south of Andros Island Tuesday morning.
The GFDL then depicts the frightening scenario of a rapidly strengthening hurricane in the Florida Straits between the Keys and Cuba that goes Category Five Wednesday. It then moves into the Gulf as a powerful hurricane. Where is goes from there is subject to conjecture. We do know that a strong ridge of high pressure is forecast to be to our west, hopefully keeping a protective shield over the southern United States, which would carry the storm to the south of the northern Gulf Coast.
It is way to early to talk about what might happen with this system, but needless to say, we will be watching it carefully.
OPHELIA: No problem here. Tropical Storm Ophelia made her closest approach to southeastern Massachusetts this morning, passing less than 100 miles southeast of the island of Nantucket. The storm will quickly lose tropical characteristics as it moves rapidly northeast heading toward the British Isles by midweek.
TROPICS STORY #2: Satellite imagery this morning indicates that Tropical Depression Seventeen has formed 370 miles east of the Windward Islands. The pulsing blob of thunderstorms has been gradually getting better organized under a more favorable upper wind pattern. This system is forecast by the GFDL (one of our more reliable tropical system models) to rapidly become a tropical storm and then a hurricane.
It is moving to the northwest. Interests in the Leeward Islands have been advised to monitor the storm. Air Force reconnaissance will investigate this afternoon. Warnings may be required there llater today. The GFDL also forecasts a quick turn to the north to the east of the islands and no threat to the U.S., which is good news
TROPICS STORY #3: This one will turn out to be the biggest story of the three. Low pressure north of the Greater Antilles may become a tropical depression north of the Dominican Republic during the next twenty four hours. This depression is forecast by the GFDL model to become a hurricane by Sunday night. It will pass across the Central Bahamas Monday evening and just south of Andros Island Tuesday morning.
The GFDL then depicts the frightening scenario of a rapidly strengthening hurricane in the Florida Straits between the Keys and Cuba that goes Category Five Wednesday. It then moves into the Gulf as a powerful hurricane. Where is goes from there is subject to conjecture. We do know that a strong ridge of high pressure is forecast to be to our west, hopefully keeping a protective shield over the southern United States, which would carry the storm to the south of the northern Gulf Coast.
It is way to early to talk about what might happen with this system, but needless to say, we will be watching it carefully.
on September 17, 2005, 6:27 pm
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