Summit County Citizens Voice

Peak of hurricane season could be active

Tropical activity is picking up in the Atlantic Basin.

Hurricane Gordon nears the Azores Sunday, Aug. 19 with 100 mph winds. MODIS satellite image courtesy NASA.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Tropical trouble may be brewing in the central Atlantic as two areas of disturbed whether heading west have to potential to develop as named tropical systems.

The National Hurricane Center is keeping a close watch on the westernmost system which has a 90 percent chance of becoming Tropical Storm Isaac within the next 48 hours.

Meanwhile, an area of disturbed weather in the far western Gulf of Mexico also has slight potential to develop as a tropical storm, as Gordon, once a Category 2 storm, dissipates between the Azores and the coast of Portugal.

The most immediate threat, with regard to potential impacts, is the system now named as Invest 94L, about 800 miles east of the Lesser Antilles. The system is pushing west at 20 to 25 miles per hour, and hurricane center forecasters said island residents should be aware that tropical storm warnings may soon be issued.

But at this point, the system is not sustaining a great deal of thunderstorm activity near the center of circulation, so it’s not clear how fast the storm will develop and whether it will intensify into a major tropical storm or hurricane.

Long-term, the track of the system is far from certain, with a few models suggesting that a deep trough of low pressure pushing down from Canada could keep the system out to sea.

According to Dr. Jeff Masters’ Wunderblog, several recent model runs show the system moving toward Florida, or possibly curving up toward the Carolinas, while another solution brings the storm more west, to a potential landfall in the Yucatan.

Out behind that system, southwest of the Cape Verde Islands, the next disturbance also has the potential to develop as a tropical storm, according to the NHC.

Filed under: climate and weather, tropical storms and hurricanes Tagged: | Atlantic hurricane season 2012, Azores, Gulf of Mexico, Lesser Antilles, National Hurricane Center, Tropical Storm Isaac