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The Season Is Not Over Yet
Here on Hurricane Tracking Sites we want to remind you that unfortunately the season isn’t over yet. There is a little area to keep your eye on by Hispanola. The latest NOAA advisory says:
ZCZC MIATWOAT ALL TTAA00 KNHC DDHHMM TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL 200 PM EDT MON SEP 22 2008 FOR THE NORTH ATLANTIC...CARIBBEAN SEA AND THE GULF OF MEXICO... 1. A BROAD AREA OF LOW PRESSURE CENTERED NEAR THE EASTERN TIP OF HISPANIOLA CONTINUES TO PRODUCE HEAVY RAINS OVER PORTIONS OF THE EXTREME EASTERN DOMINICAN REPUBLIC...PUERTO RICO...AND THE U.S. AND BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS. ALTHOUGH THE CIRCULATION APPEARS TO HAVE BECOME BETTER DEFINED TODAY...THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY IS CURRENTLY POORLY ORGANIZED. THIS SYSTEM STILL HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BECOME A TROPICAL DEPRESSION AS IT MOVES TO THE NORTH-NORTHWEST AWAY FROM HISPANIOLA OVER THE NEXT DAY OR TWO. HEAVY RAINFALL WITH POTENTIALLY LIFE-THREATENING FLASH FLOODING IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE OVER THE AREA THROUGH TUESDAY. INTERESTS IN PUERTO RICO...THE VIRGIN ISLANDS...HISPANIOLA...THE TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS...AND THE SOUTHEASTERN BAHAMAS SHOULD CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE PROGRESS OF THIS SYSTEM AND PRODUCTS ISSUED BY THEIR LOCAL WEATHER FORECAST OFFICES. AN AIR FORCE RESERVE UNIT RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT WILL BE INVESTIGATING THE SYSTEM SHORTLY. ELSEWHERE...TROPICAL CYCLONE FORMATION IS NOT EXPECTED DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS. $$ FORECASTER BERG/FRANKLIN NNNN
We want to suggest that this time of year you need to be checking on the tropics on a regular basis. We have a feed set up on the right side of Hurricane Tracking Sites (NHC Atlantic Outlook) that will let you see what NOAA has to say about what’s happening in the tropics at the push of a button. If there is something out there, you can use the quick links provided to find out more about whatever going on. The best way to make good decisions is to stay informed!
A Little Break
Currently there is quiet in the tropics. It is nice to have a break after the last rush of storms. Millions of people either evacuated or prepared to evacuate which causes a lot of stress. Looking at the damage that Hurricane Ike did to so may people is a vivid reminder of how quickly everything can change. In a day, everything in life can be different. The peak of hurricane season is September 10th. We still have two and a half months before this season is over. I like it when I go to one of the hurricane tracking sites and I get this message:
No active storms. I like the sound of that. Of course the infrared satellite picture always makes it look like something is going on:
But, the National Hurricane Center says that the big red area is just a lot of rain and has a very low probability of flaring up in to anything else. One of the handy tools on this site for day to day use can be found on the right hand side of the site called NHC Atlantic Outlook. It is an RSS feed from the National Hurricane Center that gives you a quick graphic of the possibility of storm formation. We always like low probabilities. During this break in the season, don;t let your guard down. Check your hurricane supplies and your evacuation plans. One of the best things to be when a storm is approaching is ready.
The Navy Site (http://nlmoc.navy.mil/home1.html)
The Navy Site is one of the hurricane tracking sites we have used and trusted for years. It isn’t actually called the Nave Site, it’s technical name is Naval Maritime Forecast Center – Norfolk. It has an URL address that is also virtually impossible to remember, so it is more convenient to use the handy link we have provided. The Nay site is what I would call a no frills site. When you go to the site you will get a page that looks like this:
If you will look for the poorly drawn circles we made (it is not easy to draw a circle with a mouse) you will find a link called “Tropical Cyclone”. When you click on that link you will get a page with information about current storms in the region. To see the Navy track of a storm you need to click on the link that will say “Graphic”. That will open up a page that will give you a very easy to understand graphic of where the Navy thinks the storm is going. This site doesn’t display a cone of uncertainty. Since the Navy has a lot of interest in where the storm goes, they are pretty good at hurricane tracks. You can also find their projection of wind speed at various times along the track. The Navy site is one that we always check frequently during the course of the storm. Just a side note, while no one is right 100% of the time about the track of a hurricane, both times the Navy site has forecast a hurricane to track over our house, it has. As long as this site isn’t pointing at us, it is one of our favorites!
