A writer and a tropical muse. A funky Lubavitcher who enjoys watching the weather, hurricanes, listening to music while enjoying life with a sense of humor and trying to make sense of it all!
Wednesday, July 10, 2019
11 PM UPDATE - Tropical Storm Barry Forming From PTC2 in the GOM CLOSE TO LAND. Forecast to be Cat 1 Hurricane by NHC. Louisiana in the Cross Hairs for RAIN FLOODING. Recon going in later today. NHC Cone. Tropics NOW.
11 PM Update on PTC2
Maybe tomorrow.....
Still only 30 MPH
Broad center with multiple centers.
The center has not stacked yet.
Kind of a center but no cigar..
Note it's a very slow mover for a while.
At some point it picks up speed.
Develops close in over very warm waters.
Caveat here is IF a real center stacks up.
Models insist that will happen.
Note salient discussion points tonight from NHC
"multiple low level swirls associated with individual convective
cells were noted in the aircraft wind data"
Great product NHC puts out.
Flooding potential...
Will start over in the morning.
Maybe tomorrow..
Tomorrow is always a day away.
Sweet Tropical Dreams,
BobbiStorm
Recon may have found a center........
........waiting to see what NHC says.
NHC said they found a broad center...........
and another smaller center and another.
Not there yet was the verdict.
Recon pulling pressures near 1005 mb with a LLC clearly defined. Likely to have a fully tropical system (TD or weak TS) very soon. #PTC2#Barrypic.twitter.com/LRkWYszW0s
We know it will be slow movement for the short term.
If someone asks you what category this Gulf system will be, tell them SLOW. That category of slow-moving storms of any intensity that can dump more than a foot of rain, and that can take more lives due to inland flooding than from any other hazard. #TurnAroundDontDrownpic.twitter.com/VAfILhB9du
The official NOAA forecast has it over LA thru Monday.
That could change.
But the flooding inland would be a problem.
My bottom line:
Let me explain how this goes. It's currently raining off and on in Louisiana and other places nearby. There was flooding this morning as well as a tornado. It floods easily there but more easily with heavy tropical rain. The river is already swollen... you know the Mississippi River and it's low lying filled with lots of bayous that flood. That water rises and the structures holding it will have problems with it and yes I'm talking about a slow moving minimal hurricane. Then it makes landfall and moves SLOWLY UP River... that is flooding.......then it moves further up into Texas, Mississippi and Arkansas not to let E Oklahoma off the hook. That adds more water to the River and where do you think that water goes? Well it tries to go downstream. This has the potential for a real, flooding mess that will impact many people's lives over a wide area and it's the beginning of the hurricane season so who knows what else will come there way later in the season.
Oh and the Atlantic is about to come alive.
As in 1-2-3 or rather 3-4-5
ABC .. that fast.
Until the steering currents open up the gates.
And let Barry leave....
... Barry is stuck as seen here.
And it's slowly coming together.
Some models show a stronger hurricane.
We can talk on that tomorrow.
You have a big bull in a China Shop.
A tea kettle full and spilling over everywhere.
Flooding.
This is the concern here........
As for me I'm going out tonight.
I'm going to wear my Drunk Donkey Tee Shirt
And wear a real short skirt ;)
(giggling)
And eat good Southern Food and drink Craft Beer.
And I'll be back to see what we see...
Thank you TREMENDOUSLY for your feedback ...
...and great discussion on Twitter and elsewhere.
Sweet Tropical Dreams...
BobbiStorm on Twitter & Instagram.
Follow me there for real time discusison.
Note it's raining all over the place...
N FL to LA/TX border.
Not a good set up before landfall.
Before we even knew it's name was Tropical Storm Barry..
Besos .........
I'm sure I'm part of that huge number of hits ;)
* * *
2 PM
Note NHC has this as HURRICANE BARRY at landfall.
What category depends on many things.
Note it's a developing cyclone.
Movement WSW currently.
That could also be part of center reforming.
We don't have a clear cut center.
High behind it is strong.
High to it's NW is strong and moving East.
You can use the loop and see this happening as well.
991 mb #EURO vs 986 mb #GFS one run, model runs vary from one run to another... watch the trend, prepare as told to by local authorities & nhc https://t.co/pexSaST2e2
Some of the latest model guidance is showing the upper trough over New England to be weaker each run, which allows the high pressure ridge over the rockies to steer the storm more west. #PTC2pic.twitter.com/dlpEybluZi
— Hurricane Tracker App (@hurrtrackerapp) July 10, 2019
Note the river flooding problem goes N up into Arkansas possibly.
The reason I was upset yesterday about the slowness of the NHC to put out their PTC2 product is because in this case it's not about LANDFALL today but about rain ahead of Barry while PTC2 tried to come together. You add in WARM WATER and localized rain and HOT weather and you have rain falling in flash flood proportions TODAY.. and I knew that would happen YESTERDAY. There is way too much obsession on what city will get to be landfall as if it's some contest. This is not a Cat 5 Hurricane with a small core of dangerous winds that people need to know where that tight Andrew like eye is going as much as WHERE IS THE WEATHER GOING and WHO WILL GET FLOODING and that area is a wide swath along the many populated cities that lie from the Mobile to Houston. Houston is not in the cone but does Barry wrap up or does it's weather go everywhere? It's a difficult forecast for the NHC as it's evolving and developing in real time. And time is of the essence to prepare both down by the Gulf of Mexico and up in the back woods prone to flooding along the Mississippi River, the Pearl River and the Sabine River. Lots of rivers and bayous there and they are all prone to flooding even far from the point of landfall.
I had to stop writing to take a picture of the TV.
Yes, how Old School.
Welcome to my world.
No time to play with webcams or searches.
TWC showing the webcam.
Duh...so ignore the "took a pic of tv" look.
The message is the thing here.
And yes I have a map on my wall.
Told you I love maps.
Note this TWEET 15 HOURS AGO.
This will need to be watched for potential river flooding in New Orleans due to Invest #92L, which will likely become #Barry --> https://t.co/bFwpvZvLEN
— Hurricane Tracker App (@hurrtrackerapp) July 9, 2019
Understand New Orleans and areas around it....
........do not need Harvey like rain totals to flood.
Actually Houston floods fast too.
It's BAYOU country.
It's a swamp basically.
This is the problem.
Barry won't be Camille.
This is not a wind event but a rain/flooding event.
NOTE... the models again.
Posting this twice.
The HWRF last night set the tropical world on fire.
It showed RI upon landfall and a strong hurricane.
Everyone went crazy on that one model run.
As they do every time the GFS agrees with the EURO.
HWRF had it's 15 minutes of fame.
IF that happens everyone will ask about the HWRF.
The next run pulled back a bit this morning.
Oh well.
Note the ICON is being watched by many.
So let's let RECON fly into the plane.
Let's let the NHC do it's official thing.
The GOVERNOR of LOUISIANA DIDN'T WAIT.
Nola is not playing wait and watch game.
Their mets know the story.
Check the loop out below.
Note this is an official GOV product
We have a Low by Louisiana.
NOTE the WHOLE LOOP it's under RAIN.
Rain is the name of the GAME.
Lastly IF Barry goes up into the Mississippi River Valley.
There will be more rain as it's been at Flood Stage since February.
It really can't handle that much rain.
So while no it's not Harvey sort of rain.
It's still way too much and a pain.
It's not that hard to see where the NHC will put the cone.
Louisiana for now.
Texas near the Sabine River COULD be in it.
It could move closer to Mississippi or Texas....
if something changes.
Things often change in real time.
So keep checking back.
Pay attention to your local weather sources.
UPDATED TD 6 Forms. Labor Day Weekend Tropical Update. Thoughts on How Florence Forms and Tropical Waves in the Caribbean and RAIN Either Way... Prepare and Get a Plan B and Have a Great Holiday
TD 6
I am not ready to buy the Out to Sea solution.
The Fish Storm scenario.
It could happen.
It might not be such a locked in end game.
You can compare with the image at the bottom of the blog...
TD6 trying to break away from the monsoon trof.
As things stand now expect TD6 to take the Southern end of the Cone and if that happens they will adjust the cone a bit more to the South on each advisory. They have already backpedaled on forecast intensity. Originally this was forecast to be a Hurricane in the medium time frame, then later time frame and now the Hurricane word has been taken off the table for now. It doesn't look all that great (an in my mind never really did though models liked it a lot) and I'm pretty sure it will become Florence. But if Florence stays weak, it gets further West most likely as it's easy to see how a strong hurricane might break through a strong ridge, but there is no strong hurricane forecast here so why would it not continue to go more to the left (West) and if it does climb some in latitude what is to stop it from trying to turn back to the left (West)?
Intensity forecast currently a Tropical Storm.
Only 2 models break for a Hurricane.
Note the model tracks to the South...
Begin to break a bit and lunge West.
Or perhaps it stalls out a bit.
Something with timing is off with TD6
Water Vapor Image below shows a strong high.
A strong high to the N and NW of a small TD.
Things could change.
Things often do change.
Perhaps they should have named it FLO as I'm sure FLO would be a Major Hurricane. She'd create a bit stir, catch everyone's attention and then at the end save the whole East Coast and grab a lift out of town on a cold front. She might even bring us a cold front........ think on the possibilities!!
Discussion from yesterday makes FLO a cane.
I'm always been skeptical how a 75 MPH Cane...
...tries to climb in latitude so much so early?
Now they have taken the Cane out of the forecast.
Again the models shown above explain that.
So explain how a 45 to 65 MPH TS....
...busts through a strong high?
I'm waiting to see it happen.
Fish storm means less dangers to land.
Again this may be a Mermaid.
Mermaids always are drawn to land...
...to the rocks watching the sailors.
keep watching.
As for the Caribbean area we are watching.
That little bend in the force is what we are watching.
Forecast for the next 5 days is RAIN.
With or without a name.
Understand at some point something may form.
Look at the GOM now.
It may just be a matter of time.
You can see where something might form.
Less shear, Central GOM
Shear weaker.
Water warm.
Something forms in the GOM..
..it's a bull in a China Shop.
LASTLY...
For some reason people think if we don't have a big, nasty hurricane making landfall somewhere we are fine and dandy and all's good in the universe. Wrong. Weather happens with a name or without a name. Note the next few images. Weather on the rampage....
Ain't no joy in Mt. Joy today.
10 inches of rain.
More than 5 inches per hour?
Stranded school bus ...
Bet that hail storm in 1922 caused real misery.
PA still having problems with flooding.
I'm still worried on a possible ....
...Mid Atlantic Threat later this season.
Might happen.
Might not but odds are higher this year.
I forgot to mention there was a Twister in Maine yesterday.
High latitude weather events.
Amtrak is having a problem.
Amtrak train stuck in the flood.
Waiting for a rescue engine.
Ouch.
Hurricanes Happen.
Often they are Fish Storms.
Or they catch a cold front out to sea.
But Mother Nature finds a way to cause misery..
..with or without a busy hurricane season.
Let's see what happens with TD6/FLO
And the chance that something could form in the GOM.
Keep reading is you haven't done so.
If you have...thanks.
Besos BobbiStorm
Currently low chances for development.
Short term not happening.
Long term it can happen.
Note the very strong wind flow in it's immediate path.
Note to the West of Louisiana the wind flow lightens up.
When you have bars that close together it means:
Windy.
Shear.
I've said this before over and over, I'll say it again. Models are very prone to flip flop or drop something they show one day and not two days later. Shear forecasts are less reliable than where "rain" will show up. Everything is in "FLOW" and because of that it's always in movement. Hard to predict, but we keep trying. The existence of this wave that traveled from Africa is a fact, it is still there and it may move into an area where shear lessens and over warm water it can develop. Again I have said for the last few days... it needs a "center" without that center it's just stormy weather. So keep watching here is the key and know the wave will enhance the rainfall already there lingering around Florida and up in the Gulf of Mexico. I'm going with this system first as it is closest to the US and more people want to know what is happening regarding Labor Day Weekend. Keep your APPs on with notifications and check the weather and the sky often. Severe weather at the beach can pop up fast and it often takes a long time to pack up your stuff (if you are the type who brings stuff to the beach) and get back to the safety of the car before the lightning storm moves in fast.
Mike has models up on Spaghetti Models.
You can see how closed off the circulation is...
...but it's still tethered to the monsoon trough.
That deep river of blue there...
As it gains a bit in latitude it breaks free..
And swims on it's own.
Speaking of swimming.
I'm not sold on it being a FISH STORM.
It may be more of a MERMAID STORM.
Swims like a fish but ...
...dreams of walking on land.
The high has been huge.
The high is forecast to weaken enough...
....for Florence to find that exit North.
I'm not real sold on that just yet.
It could happen.
It could also get further West and be a problem.
Don't write the end of the story for a storm.
Before said storm has really formed.
Speaking of models.
There's a long range model.
Speaking of models is synonymous with Tropical Tidbits.
Levi Cowan on Twitter has said this about the Tropical Wave.
Remember the models (especially King Euro) were Gung Ho.
Then they were less than enthusiastic.
Why you ask?
I'll add simply.
PV Streamers like Upper Level Lows...
Are complicated to fully explain and forecast.
They have in the past helped systems formed.
Often they stop systems from forming.
Fairly short blog this morning. I'll update later today after the next set of model runs and I digest the various satellite loops a bit more. PTC6 is forecast to attain Tropical Storm strength by the NHC over the next 24 hours or so. The big question mark on the current tropical wave near the Islands that might affect Florida (as a tropical wave) and the Gulf of Mexico as a tropical wave, tropical depression or more is a longer term threat. Currently it looks like you can find a beach, go and enjoy but know you don't need a hurricane to mess up your beach plans. So......make a Plan B always!
Location: Miami, Raleigh, Crown Heights, Florida, United States
Weather Historian. Studied meteorology and geography at FIU. Been quoted in Wall Street Journal, Washington Post & everywhere else... Lecturer, stormchaser, writer, dancer. If it's tropical it's topical ... covering the weather & musing on life. Follow me on Twitter @ https://twitter.com/#!/BobbiStorm