WxWatcher007

Recon just passed an area of FL winds between 65-75kts. Hasn’t reached the center yet but should have data in the next ten minutes.

Recon looks like its first pass will be from SE to NW. I kind of expect this to be near hurricane intensity given the satellite and earlier recon trends we saw but we’ll see.

The lid is off and as long as it is we should pay closer attention to any seedling in the western Atlantic and Caribbean.

I’m still far from sold, but the GFS has done well sniffing out CAG/western Caribbean stuff and it would continue the theme of the lid being off. There is a little EPS support from what I saw too this morning.

Latest recon is en route and should be in the storm soon.

The final VDM of the recon mission reports a circular eye that’s open in the SW. Diameter of 20nm.

Low of 40.1° here in EH.

48 hours for a watch and 36 hours for a warning. They do issue inland watches/warnings. For Helene there were TS warnings all the way to western NC. Don’t know when Orlando was last under a hurricane warning but given the current track forecast it looks like this could be a hurricane across the peninsula. Watches are likely at some point today since TS conditions are likely by Tuesday.

For our FL crew.

Fantasy for now.

That kind of structure tends to foreshadow more significant to rapid intensification, but it’s only one piece of the puzzle. You do still need deep convection over the center and wrapping around to build a true inner core. It’s not a linear process, and as we see time and again the organizational phase often happens in fits and starts. Recon tomorrow will give us a much better sense of how organized it is and critically, more detail on the environment around the system. Night, everyone.

Want to keep highlighting the rainfall threat further inland. Someone away from the center track is likely to have significant issues with freshwater flooding.

Too high as in too high with central pressure? The GFS and Euro were about in lock step inside 48h with a landfall pressure in the 950s. But globals are almost always higher for strong hurricanes than reality. Aside from that, I think what’s telling here is that the GFS went from very weak to in line with the more aggressive Euro and its ensembles.

You did a phenomenal job in the lead chair. Glad you can get some rest before this next one.

This increasingly looks like a high impact event along the track across the peninsula. Some of the rainfall totals in north central and NE FL are significant and the NHC track suggests significant winds will be a possibility inland too.

Nope. It’d be a ripe candidate but the TC force field is strong this fall in our neck of the woods.

@40/70 Benchmark we’ve seen a lot of close calls and false alarms over the years, and this one is still far from settled…but this looks as close to “the one” for Tampa as I’ve seen since Charley. Look at the TC report from Josephine in the 90s. Nine feet of surge north of Tampa and 4-6’ near the Bay.

Absolutely.

Much tighter landfall envelope and the intensity trend has been particularly noteworthy.

To the upwelling question—there’s still plenty of warm water at along the path. Just as important, there’s depth to support a significant hurricane. Milton is likely to cross the Loop Current. A further south track could take it across that cooler spot, but that seems unlikely at this time. Just want to note for those lurking without much experience tracking tropical—those are 850mb winds, and would almost certainly not reach the surface, though those kind of winds aloft suggest significant (but again weaker) winds are possible at the surface.

Peak Season Forecast (Aug 20-Oct 20) Named Storms: 15 (8) Hurricanes: 10 (5) Major Hurricanes: 5 (2) Francine (H), Gordon, Helene (MH), Isaac (H), Joyce, Kirk (MH), Leslie (H), Milton

Yes—there’s some data out there that shows that early August has gotten quieter over the years, while the back half of the peak, say September 20-October 20 has become more active. We’ve had several backloaded seasons in recent years and I think if the MDR stability trend continues we will see more of such seasons as the MDR will remain hostile until stability has had time to fade.

Those globals being close to agreement on track and intensity give cause for pause, particularly since the GFS was the least robust of the guidance not that long ago. It’s important for folks here to remember that this is going to be a multi-hazard event. Not only are wind and surge becoming increasingly significant hazards, the rainfall continues to look like a major issue for some part of the peninsula.