A single source reference on tropical weather predictions. With a traditional focus on the upper Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast we've maintained links to track all Atlantic Basin, Caribbean and eastern Pacific storm systems. We are now expanding our view to tropical storms throughout the world intending to be a comprehensive global storm tracking resource.
1 p.m. Sunday, July 31, Japan time: They’re calling it Super Typhoon Muifa for a reason. In a span of less than 18 hours, Muifa went from Category I- to Category IV-equivalent status and in relatively short order should become a Cat V-equivalent storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale.
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posted by Slipstream | 4:45 AM
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July 30 (Bloomberg) -- Tropical Storm Don has been downgraded to a tropical depression as it moved across the Texas coastline near Baffin Bay last night, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.Hopefully Don will bring some much needed rain to the area, however it seems as it the rain chances are spotty. For a storm that many people were looking forward to to help bring some needed moisture, it seems as it Don may disappoint.
The depression was about 40 miles south of Corpus Christi, Texas, with maximum winds of 35 miles (56 kilometers) per hour, according to a hurricane center advisory issued just before 10 p.m. local time. All storm warnings for the coast have been canceled.
"Don is forecast to dissipate in a day or so as it moves farther inland," the advisory said. "Data from an Air Force hurricane hunter plane indicate that the winds are also rapidly decreasing."
At its height, Don forced the shutdown of more than 11.9 percent of oil production and 6.2 percent of gas output from the Gulf of Mexico, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement said yesterday.
Don is expected to disperse by Saturday as it moves further inland. The National Hurricane Center warns, “Wind gusts could still be experienced over water to the north and east of the center.”
These conditions should continue over the next several hours.
The center reported that storm surge and tides would keep water levels raised as high as one to two feet above ground level. This is true for areas along the Texas south coast. The high water levels will begin to recede as the storm moves inland.
Unfortunately for the region suffering a drought currently, the amount of rainfall expected has also dissipated. South Texas is predicted to receive only one to two inches, according to the center.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has labeled this as the third worst drought in the state’s recorded history. The decrease in rainfall is bad news for farmers dealing with dried-up cattle ponds and farm fields in the Lone Star state.
posted by KWR | 10:04 AM
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(CNN) -- Tropical Storm Don set its sights on south Texas on Friday as it churned across the Gulf of Mexico, the National Hurricane Center said.Any potential strengthening prior to TS Don making landfall is expected to be slight. There is little if any potential for Don to grow to a minimal hurricane.
The storm, which would bring much-needed rainfall to the parched state, is forecast to make landfall along the Texas coast late Friday night or early Saturday.
Don had maximum sustained winds of 50 mph (85 kph) with higher gusts at 5 a.m. ET, quickly spinning toward the west-northwest at 14 mph (22 kph).
The storm was about 290 miles (470 km) southeast of Corpus Christi and about 245 miles (395 km) east of Brownsville.
"Some strengthening is possible until landfall, with weakening likely by Saturday morning," the hurricane center said.
Tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 105 miles (170 km), but mainly to the north and east of the storm's center.
It's not often that news of a tropical storm is welcomed, but Don's expected heavy rainfall may prove to be a silver lining for Texas.
"Some parts of Texas are more than 15 inches below average (for rainfall). This storm will likely not be a drought-buster, but could at least put a dent in and around where the storm makes landfall," CNN meteorologist Dave Hennen said Thursday. If Don "does not intensify into a hurricane, this is likely a good thing."
Any rain would be a welcome relief for many Texas farmers, who are suffering from the third worst drought in recorded history, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
posted by KWR | 9:05 AM
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MANILA (Reuters) - Tropical storm Nock-Ten slammed into the eastern mountain areas of the Philippines' main island Luzon on Wednesday, killing 20 but sparing the country's major rice-producing provinces, disaster and weather officials said.
Nock-Ten, the tenth storm to hit the poor Southeast Asian country this year, caused minor damage to rice farms and coconut-growing areas when it hit land mid-morning on Wednesday.
It is expected to exit towards the South China Sea later in the day.
"The threat in the capital region has decreased," Rene Paciente of the state weather bureau told a news conference, adding Nock-Ten was expected to weaken, but may bring heavy rains in northern Luzon's eastern mountain ranges.
Schools and some public offices were closed on Wednesday, but domestic flights to the central and southern Philippines were operating normally after disruptions on Tuesday. Ferry operations were still suspended.
At least 10 people were earlier reported killed by drowning, landslides and falling trees caused by the storm, which brought gusts of up to 120 kph (74 mph).
More than 645,000 people had been affected by the storm.
Tens of thousands sought temporary shelter in school buildings and public buildings in areas battered by Nock-Ten, said Benito Ramos, executive director of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.
An average of 20 typhoons hit the Philippines every year, killing people and destroying infrastructure, property and crops. The typhoons have been striking with greater intensity in recent years.
posted by Slipstream | 5:40 AM
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Image courtesy of: www.usno.navy.milTokyo Electric Power Co. is rushing to install a cover over a building at its crippled Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant to shield it from wind and rain as Typhoon Ma-on approaches Japan’s coast from the south.
Work on the cover for the turbine building of the No. 3 reactor started at about 8:30 a.m. today, Junichi Matsumoto, a general manager at the utility known as Tepco, said at briefing in Tokyo. The transfer of tainted water for storage in a barge docked next to the plant was halted, spokesman Satoshi Watanabe said by telephone.
The eye of Ma-on, which is categorized as “extremely strong,” was about 420 kilometers (260 miles) southeast of the city of Kagoshima at 4 p.m. today, or 1,200 kilometers from the Fukushima plant, according to the website of the Japan Meteorological Agency.
The storm was moving north at 25 kilometers per hour with winds blowing at 157 kph. Ma-on is forecast to continuing heading north and may cross coast of the southwestern island of Kyushu after 6 a.m. tomorrow. A forecast track from the U.S. Navy Joint Typhoon Warning Center indicates the storm may pass over the Fukushima plant by July 21.
The Japanese weather agency issued warnings for floods and high waves along the southern coast from Okinawa to Tokyo.
posted by Slipstream | 9:06 AM
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Image: www.wunderground.com
At 1500 UTC (11 a.m. EDT) on July 15, Tropical Depression Tokage had maximum sustained winds near 25 knots (29 mph/46 kmh). Tokage is moving east and away from the Philippines at 11 knots (13 mph/20 kmh). It was located about 395 nautical miles north of Palau. Palau is an island nation in the western North Pacific Ocean. It is located about 500 miles (800 km) east of the Philippines.
Tokage is currently fighting with Typhoon Ma-on, also in the vicinity. Outflow winds from Typhoon Ma-on are preventing convection and thunderstorms from developing in Tokage, even though Tokage is in warm sea surface temperatures.
The forecasters at the Joint Typhoon Warning Center think that Tokage is going to be short-lived and knocked out by Ma-on. As Tokage continues tracking north-northeastward, it is expected to become full absorbed into Typhoon Ma-on over the weekend.
posted by Slipstream | 7:31 PM
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Midnight Friday, July 15, Japan time: Typhoon Ma-on now appears to be headed onto a sharp curve that will take it even further east of Okinawa, Sasebo Naval Base and Marine Corps Air Station iwakuni than earlier forecast, and moving faster than expected, according to the latest Joint Typhoon Warning Center forecast track.
Ma-on is now forecast to push 315 miles east-northeast of Okinawa by 4 p.m. Monday, at which point it will still be a powerful Category IV-equivalent storm, packing 138-mph sustained winds and 167-mph gusts at its center, but those effects should be quite distant from Okinawa.
As for Sasebo, the JTWC forecasts Ma-on to skirt 230 miles to the east at about 6 p.m. Tuesday. It’s projected to miss Iwakuni 161 miles to the southeast – almost twice the distance from our previous report – and likely could miss Shikoku Island altogether.
The JTWC then forecasts Ma-on to plow along the south coast of Japan’s main Honshu island, first striking land just south of Osaka, then again skimming along the coastal cities of Hamamatsu and Shizuoka on Wednesday evening.
Even then, despite being so far north, the air and sea surface temperatures are warm enough that Ma-on will still retain Category II strength, 121-mph sustained winds and 150-mph gusts at its center.
What that will mean for the Tokyo area is too soon to say – Ma-on is still five days away.
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posted by Slipstream | 7:13 PM
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