Time to track tropical storm/hurricane activity again

Chris is sneaking up on Cuba and may be headed for the Gulf.

http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/tracking/at200603_5day.html

Heads Up Coasties.

Chris continues to become better organized, and may become a hurricane later today. The latest hurricane hunter eye report at 7:09am EDT found flight level winds of 67 knots, which translates to about 60-65 mph at the surface. There are upper level lows to Chris' east and west, and Chris is embedded in a low shear zone of 10-15 knots between these two lows. The lows are helping enhance the upper-level outflow from the storm. The satellite presentation of Chris has improved substantially, and we now see a more symmetrical storm that is not sucking in so much of the dry air surrounding it. Radar from San Juan, Puerto Rico, shows an eye-like feature developing (Figure 1). Chris is over warm 29-30 C water that is favorable for intensification. The key question, as always, is wind shear. Chris is a small storm that is very vulnerable to wind shear. Any movement of Chris towards either of the upper level lows surrounding it will bring hostile wind shear that will weaken the storm. However, the current model forecasts call for Chris to maintain its position exactly between these lows, and for the shear to drop to 5-10 knots. The most likely ranges for Chris' intensity on Sunday when it is expected to be near Florida range from weak tropical storm (45 mph) to strong Category 2 hurricane (110 mph).
>snip<

>It now appears likely that Chris will enter the Gulf of Mexico early next week and be a threat to the Gulf Coast. There is a trough of low pressure that will be moving across the Eastern U.S. on Monday that may turn Chris more to the north; high pressure is then forecast to build in on Tuesday and force Chris back to the west-northwest. Given this forecast, there is no region of the Gulf Coast that can assume Chris will miss them.<
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=442&tstamp=200608

note: my emphases.

Keeping an eye on this, and hoping for the best.

will explode into a monster, given the water temps....

are slightly lower this year.

Sea-Surface Temperatures in the Gulf are below average So Far for this season.

This time last year, we were already past Tropical Storms Arlene and Bret, Hurricanes Cindy, Dennis, and Emily, plus Tropical Storm Franklin. TS Gert arrived the 24th of July. Sea-Surface Temperatures (SSTs) played a significant role:



Meanwhile...sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies across the tropical Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico are substantially less this year. Most of the Gulf of Mexico is cooler than average. Secondly, the central Atlantic is warmer than last year. Thus the SST anomalies are more diffuse this year.

http://climatesci.atmos.colostate.edu/2006/06/08/excellent-comparison-of-north-atlantic-sea-surface-temperatures-between-2005-and-2006/

Has anyone seen any up-to-date info on the the SSTs for this July?

Louisiana is now a Third World Country, it wouldn't take much more to just go ahead and annihilate us. Someone stop these hurricanes RIGHT NOW. I have spoken.