Tropical Storm Warnings For Tri-State Area

The National Weather Service in Upton, New York has issued Tropical Storm Warnings for locations across The Tri-State Area. Storm Surge Watches and Warnings are also in effect.nhc hermine post tropical ts warnings.gif

Sustained winds in excess of 40-60 MPH are possible with this storm from New Jersey to Connecticut, creating the potential for widespread power outages, blocked roads, and high waves. The National Hurricane Center is expecting a storm surge of anywhere between 1 and 8 feet depending on the location, especially on the south facing shores of Long Island. Now is the time to act! Make sure you have a 3 day supply of food and water as well as flashlights, a weather radio, and portable batteries if at all possible. If evacuations are ordered for your area, do not hesitate to leave. The potential track for this storm remains somewhat uncertain, so please stay informed over the following several days. Official information may be found at hurricanes.gov (NHC), and at weather.gov (NWS).

Florida and The East Coast are Bracing for Hurricane Hermine

Hurricane Hermine will make history tonight as it will be the first storm of its status to make landfall in Florida in over a decade. Over the past week, what is now Hurricane Hermine went from being an area of exposed low-level circulation to what is now an organized storm capable of producing winds of 75 MPH as well as a storm surge of up to 8 feet on the coast. After impacting Florida tonight, the storm is expected to skirt the Southeast coast with winds exceeding 50 MPH before  moving out over the waters off the Mid Atlantic coast. The following is an image from The NHC displaying the expected track of Hermine as well as current watches and warnings.

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This image is provided by The National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida. Tropical Storm Watches and Warnings on The East Coast stretch from Florida to the NJ/NY border. On The Gulf Coast, Hurricane Warnings are still in effect for The Big Bend region of Florida, and Tropical Storm Warnings remain in effect for areas on The Panhandle as well as areas around Tampa.

This storm poses a serious threat to both life and property and has the potential to affect millions across The East Coast. Please consult the National Weather Service at weather.gov for your local watches, warnings, and advisories.

Tropical Depression Nine Expected to Become a Tropical Storm Today; Track Uncertainty Remains in the Long Term

Tropical Depression 9, the swirling mass of clouds just to the north of The Yucatan in the image to the left, is expected to intensify into a Tropical Storm sometime over the next several hours. The warm waters of The Gulf combined with little shear has finally allowed this storm to grow rapidly over the past couple of days. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) has issued Hurricane Watches as well as Tropical Storm Warnings for much of the Big Bend area of Florida north of Tampa. Although the storm is not currently expected to become a hurricane before landfall,  it will come close to doing so with sustained winds of about 65 MPH, so Hurricane Watches are still in effect for the area. Although a sort of model consensus has been reached regarding the short term for this storm, mayhem continues as some computer models have begun to indicate a shift to the west once it passes North Carolina. If this storm were to shift to the west as now indicated by some of the more trustworthy computer models, it would mean that impacts from this storm would be felt as far north as New England.  As of now, The NHC has put a 50% chance of a 3 to 5 foot storm surge occurring in The Long Island Sound, but until the computer models receive more information, it is unlikely we will know the exact track.  More updates will ne available here over the next several days, but please visit The National Hurricane Center at nhc.noaa.gov before making any decisions.

Tropical Depressions Take Aim at US Coast

Tropical Depression 8 as well as Tropical Depression 9 are now expected to impact The US as Tropical Storms. Tropical Depression 8 is currently nearing The Outer Banks and is expected to strengthen to a Tropical Storm soon, prompting Tropical Storm Warnings for nearly the entire Outer Banks.  Tropical Depression 9 has finished moving into the southeastern Gulf of Mexico as of this morning, and is expected to become a Tropical Storm over the next 48 hours as it begins its northeast turn towards Florida.  After impacting portions of northwestern Florida, the storm is expected to reemerge over The Atlantic and continue to head to the northeast. Recently, some computer models such as The JMA (Based in Japan), The CMC (Based in Canada, as well as The UKMET (Based in The UK), have suggested a turn to the north and northwest, towards the coast of The Mid-Atlantic. There is no cause for concern quite yet for those in and around NYC, but   Weather 360 will continue to monitor the situation.

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Tropical Depression 8 (left) has prompted Tropical Storm Warnings for The Outer Banks of North Carolina, and Tropical Depression 9 (right) is making its way towards Florida. These images are distributed by The National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida.

Tonight crucial in any future development of Tropical Storm Erika

As of 5:30 PM EDT/AST

With the newest NHC track and intensity update of Tropical Storm Erika rolling out, it is time to really stop and think, what is the single most important factor in Erika’s development, what is most crucial in the short term?  The answer is for the most part clear, and cloudy, but it is Hispaniola at the moment…

Hispaniola and the Storm Shredder’s

Sounds like a band, right?  Anyways, the mountains spread across central and southern portions of the two-nation island do inhibit development of tropical cyclones by ripping to shreds their center of circulation in the lower levels.  The mountains of Hispaniola are anywhere between 6,000 and 10,000 feet, tall enough to disrupt the centers and  other clouds at the lower levels.  So really it all comes down to the mountains over the next 12 to 18 hours, and if Erika is strong enough to at the least reemerge after its encounter with the land masses.

Official Alerts:

Tropical Storm Warnings are in effect for the entire length of the coasts of The Dominican Republic and Haiti, along with The Turks and Caicos along with most of The Bahamas.

Tropical Storm Watches are in effect for northeastern parts of Cuba and for locations in the northwestern portions of The Bahamas.

Weather 360 will continue to monitor the progress of Erika over the next several days.