28 August 2011

Irene near NYC, Jose near Bermuda, new wave near Cape Verdes

Since yesterday, Irene has been downgraded to a tropical storm with 65kt winds, and the center has just passed over New York City.  The rain shield is almost entirely on the north half of the storm, so from southern NY up into Canada there is widespread heavy rain, but south of there, coverage is pretty minimal.  Without going into immense detail from all possible locations, Irene has already been blamed for 10 deaths, and extensive coastal erosion and flooding in much of mid-northern Atlantic states.  It will be easier to summarize the rainfall amounts once it's done raining.  Here is a composite radar image showing the extensive rainfall as of 10am EDT this morning:

There is extensive flooding in Lower Manhattan, Philadelphia, the list goes on.  And, for those of you without power, or with a flooded basement/business, etc, just remember that this hurricane was a blessing, according to Glenn Beck.  (http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/27/glenn-beck-hurricane-irene-is-a-blessing/)  Sorry, couldn't resist tossing that in.   If anyone cares to share stories or photos from Irene, I'd be happy to share them on here for you!

For some additional tidbits on Irene, check out this NYT article: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/28/us/28hurricane-irene.html

Earlier this morning Tropical Storm Jose formed on Bermuda's doorstep, prompting short-fuse warnings.  The intensity is 35kts, but is forecast to weaken.  It's located 100 miles southwest of Bermuda and heading north at 14kts.  This is a small weak system, but you can see the circulation on Bermuda's radar: http://www.weather.bm/radarLarge.asp

Elsewhere, another vigorous easterly wave exited the African coast yesterday (early on the 27th).  It's centered near 22W, and forecast to develop fairly quickly as it heads WNW over the next several days.  It's no immediate threat to anyone, and the next name on the list is Katia (replaces Katrina from 6 years ago).


Please visit my tropical Atlantic headquarters.

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