Saturday, August 15, 2009

The tropics wake up.

So if you know me, you know one of my interests is weather, specifically severe weather and tropical weather. Well basically I don't have any more than a layman's understanding of it, but it does fascinate me and I enjoy learning about it.

Obviously, Mariel and I have a vested interest in Florida, with her family being there, and hell, a lot of our stuff is still there. We'll probably end up back there too someday, so I really keep an eye on it.

Well, June and July of this year have passed with nothing in the Atlantic. Well, the dead time is over folks. Right now we have two systems in the tropical Atlantic that will have the potential to threaten the USA in the next 10 days or so, and the Caribbean even sooner than that.

First off, Tropical Storm Ana is the first named storm of the season. As of the Saturday morning advisories, it's a minimal storm and really isn't expected to gain hurricane strength. The 5 day track from NHC takes it either into South Florida or the Gulf by Wednesday night or Thursday.

Secondly. Tropical Depression 3 is churning off the coast of Africa. This is expected to progress to PERHAPS major hurricane strength, but it's still too far off to really track. Look for this to perhaps become a named storm tonight or tomorrow.

If you live on the East Coast or the Gulf Coast, this is always a concern this time of year. Here are some links that either you, or even just a casual tropical observer like myself can use.

National Hurricane Center

Hamweather Tropics page

Hurricane Hollow Weather and Barometer Bob

Barometer Bob's Blog

Storm Carib--The Caribbean Hurricane Network

Check these links out for great info on the tropics, Barometer Bob's sites and Storm Carib are particularly good reads.

No comments: