The Search for Arlene... Day 1 Atlantic Hurricane Season

The search for Arlene, the first named storm of the 2011 Atlantic Hurricane Season has begun, as eyes turn north and south towards tropical systems that could be possible candidates for that honor.

Most likely, the system in the Atlantic off the coast of Florida is moving so fast that it looks more like a circular derecho than a tropical or subtropical storm. Moving really fast, should make Daytona by lunchtime at the rate it's going. Maybe it wants to make a trip to that there outlet mall on I95 so many passing tourists love to aim for on their way north or south. Doubt this is Arlene, but stranger things have happened.

http://www.intellicast.com/Storm/Hurricane/AtlanticSatellite.aspx?animate=true

Further south in the SW Carib is a blob that is currently in an area where wind shear would make it hard to actually develop and do more than look pretty on colored satellite imagery. In a few days, this area may do something and we will continue to watch it... dreaming of Category Two June Storms. Anyone can dream... and June is usually too early and too soon for a Category Two storm in the Carib, but on any given day the tropics can throw a curve ball at you so keep watching.

Lastly, I wanted to point out on this first day of the Hurricane Season what any good tracker, chaser or enthusiast worth their mettle would point out. Early Cape Verde Waves are coming off the coast of Africa, riding low in the water and too low to develop but if they were to gain some latitude we could see an early Atlantic storm vs the run of the mill Gulf of Mexico, Off the Coast of Florida and SW Carib storms that June is more likely to bring. A lesson to remember: Cape Verde Storms are the Holy Grail of Hurricane Trackers.

Always love the First Day of the Hurricane Season. It's a new book, a new map, nothing horrible has happened and no one knows what really will happen. It's a work in progress. I watched my first Tropical Update this morning on TWC and will watch Jim Williams tonight at 8pm for his first show of the year. Gotta love my friends at www.hurricanecity.com and elsewhere who come out of the woodwork for the start of the season.

As for me.. am back in the South. Pruned some roses bushes this morning, cut some fresh flowers and now have multi-colored hydrangeas in a crystal vase on my dining room table. Watered the flowers, set the AC for COLD and am hunkering down to watch the tropics and the NBA Finals. What about that Dream Team now? Making dreams come true one alley oop at a time, gotta love the Heat! Lebron, Wade and all the rest of the great players who make this team a joy to watch over and over again!

Go Heat! The basketball kind, not the weather and I agree with Stephanie Abrams who mentioned the heat ridge and an early season. A point to remember though is that anything that forms in the Gulf of Mexico is most likely to make landfall somewhere. Something down in the SW Carib is less likely to unless it clips Miami or the the Virgin Islands on it's way out of the Carib.

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/east/tatl/flash-wv.html

The search goes on for Arlene and may I add, I really love this list of names. A few of my favorites are of course Irene, Harvey and Vince ...ah the memories...

ARLENE AR LEEN- LEE LEE
BRET BRET MARIA MUH REE- UH
CINDY SIN- DEE NATE NAIT
DON DAHN OPHELIA O FEEL- YA
EMILY EH- MIH LEE PHILIPPE FEE LEEP-
FRANKLIN FRANK- LIN RINA REE- NUH
GERT GERT SEAN SHAWN
HARVEY HAR- VEE TAMMY TAM- EE
IRENE EYE REEN- VINCE VINSS
JOSE HO ZAY- WHITNEY WHIT- NEE
KATIA KA TEE- AH


Besos BobbiStorm

Ps Bonus pic that was posted on www.canetalk.com, absolutely beautiful.