Quick Update...

The tropics are quiet, but don't expect that to last long. By around August 20th or so I expect the real fireworks to start. If I had more time I would explain in detail, but the trough slowly retrograding back west, and looking at the MJO, I think the US better watch out. I had 14 named storms, but again, what's most important by far, is the fact I expect a high impact season. Don't see any reason at all to change that. Still believe Florida/Carolinas are the main areas to watch this season. Of course you shouldn't let your guard down from Texas to Maine, but I have a feeling the majority of the action will be focused in Florida/Carolinas. We'll see?

I'll try to blog some this week, but I'll be at the BMP/OMP workshop here at Mississippi State University. Online students will be coming in from all across the US/World, and I look forward to meeting them face to face for the first time. I always enjoy that. Again, I'll update when I can, but I don't really think there is going to be much to talk about this week as far as direct US threats...

NOAA Hurricane Season Outlook

Here is the updated NOAA 2011 Atlantic hurricane season outlook. Enjoy!

NOAA 2011 Atlantic Hurricane Season Outlook Update - August 4th

TS Emily is Dead

Hispaniola - 1, Emily - 0

This was from my blog post this weekend: "There is a danger this could hit Hispanolia and get torn to pieces. That's very possible! "

I'll be the first to admit by Tuesday I thought she would make it, but I guess not. lol. Emily never really got her act together, and Hispaniola finished her off. I would still watch it as it heads through the bahamas, but it's pretty much a done deal for Emily! We'll see?

Latest Seasonal Update

Here is the latest Atlantic hurricane seasonal update from Dr. Klotzbach & Dr. Gray from Colorado State University. Enjoy!

Seasonal Update - Dr. Klotzbach/Dr. Gray

Thoughts on Tropical Storm Emily's Track

I'm going to keep this as quick as possible. This is still not an easy forecast, as things can/do change, but I do feel much more confident about it tonight.

I expect Emily to hit Hispaniola weak enough (probably a solid-strong TS), without a well developed core, that it will be able to regain strength fairly quickly in the Bahamas. So with that in mind, I expect Emily to move across the central/eastern part of Hispaniola, and pop out as a weak TS (40mph) or maybe a tropical depression. From there I expect it to gain strength, eventually becoming a hurricane as it moves through the Bahamas. While I think Emily will be close enough to scare everyone, I don't expect it to make landfall. I'll say it stays about 100 miles (give or take 50 miles either way) offshore as it nears both Florida and the Carolinas. This is not to say you shouldn't let your guard down, but I do feel fairly confident with that forecast. Also, this doesn't mean areas along the coast won't see stormy weather. There will almost certainly be high surf and a solid threat for rip currents. While I hope no one is in the water, if you are ever caught in a rip current, swim parallel to the shore until you get out of it. If you swim into the current, you will eventually get exhausted and drown. Something to please keep in mind!

Rip Current Safety

*NOTE: If I'm off by 100 miles, which is nothing in a 4-5 day forecast, that will make a big difference. While I feel fairly confident, I have been wrong many times before, and will be wrong many times in the future. It's forecasting, which is very difficult...

Thoughts on Tropical Storm Emily

This blog post is much more focused towards tropical cyclone interaction with an island/land like Hispaniola. I will touch on my thoughts/instincts on the forecast for TS Emily, but I still need more time to really nail that down. It's not easy! First with Hispaniola...

Tropical Tip: Strong hurricanes (well defined inner core) that moves across land often do not regain their intensity once back over water, while weaker storms intensify much more rapidly once back over the open water. Why? The land disrupts the inner core of the hurricane causing it to weaken, while the outer bands still over water continue to have healthy convection, which will prevent inflow from getting to the surface of the storm once back over open water. A couple good examples of that are Isadore in 2002 and Gustav in 2008.

So how does this apply to Emily and a landmass like Hispaniola? Well, this tip is especially true with a mountainous island like Hispaniola. It really tears up tropical cyclones. However, if Emily can remain fairly weak (not a defined inner core), then it is much more likely (if it can survive its trip across Hispaniola) to ramp up over the open water. If Emily does have a well defined inner core, it will be destroyed by Hispaniola, and it will be very difficult for it to ramp up again. Now of course this doesn't take into account many environmental factors like dry air and shear, as I'm strictly talking about land interaction and its effect on the core of a tropical cyclone. This all assumes the environment is ripe for intensification. That's important to keep in mind.

So here are three possibilities with Tropical Storm Emily:

1) It ramps up fairly quick, steered more by the trough, gaining enough latitude to just miss or clip Hispaniola to the north/east. This would lead to a strong hurricane in the Bahamas, but I believe in this scenario it would get picked up by the trough, barely missing the US. It would be close though!

2) It doesn't ramp up, steered much less by the trough, going across the island of Hispaniola. "If" it survives, then I would expect a decent ramp up until it gets very close to the Florida coast. A Cat-1/2 hurricane is very possible in this scenario, and I would likely expect a US landfall. However, this is still very tricky. It could hit Florida, or just barely miss, eventually hitting/clipping the Carolinas. That would be a forecasters nightmare!

3) It doesn't ramp up initially, but then starts to try to bomb out before moving across Hispaniola. If an inner core was well established, then I wouldn't expect much once it got back into open water. A similar track to #2 would occur, but I wouldn't fear intensification near as much. Of course this just depends on how strong Emily is when it hit Hispaniola. It would probably have to be a strong 1/weak 2, which is a probably unlikely.

So what do I think? I think scenarios 1 and 2 are most likely at this time. I would like to watch it for a day or so to really feel better about it. Since Emily took its sweet time to develop, a more western solution has become apparent. However, this doesn't guarantee that Emily will strike the US or even survive Hispaniola. There is also a chance it could stay very weak and keep moving west/south of Hispaniola. I think that is unlikely, but not impossible by any means. It's just too tough to put out an official track forecast I feel confident about right now. If it would have developed late Saturday/early Sunday, then I would feel confident by now. Since it didn't, I'll wait another day to be as accurate as possible. I'll post more thoughts tomorrow!

*Remember, I'm talking about a well developed inner core that is associated with strong hurricanes, in an environment that is conducive for intensification.

- Well developed core destroyed, very hard to ramp back up. Takes a lot of time...

- Not a well developed core, it will be disrupted, but it will intensify much more readily back over open water...

91L

I'll have an update late tonight, but 91L sure has been taking its sweet time. The bottom line is this, the longer 91L takes to develop, the more west it will go. The energy "splitting" apart sure changed everything. Lol! You got to love the tropics!