Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog

TD 2 struggling; new African wave bears watching
Posted by: Dr. Jeff Masters, 14:19 GMT le 12 août 2009 +2
Tropical Depression Two is struggling. The depression still has a good chance of becoming the Atlantic hurricane season's first named storm this week, but the dry, Saharan air that surrounds the storm, combined with moderately high levels of wind shear, are interfering with the storm's organization. Satellite loops of the storm show that heavy thunderstorm activity is limited to the west side of the depression. This is due to strong winds out of the southeast that are creating a moderate 15 - 20 knots of wind shear. The intensity and coverage of these thunderstorms is meager, thanks to the large amount of dry air to TD 2's north that is getting wrapped into the circulation. This morning's QuikSCAT pass showed a well-formed surface circulation, with top winds of about 30 - 35 mph.

Wind shear over TD 2 is expected to remain in the moderate range, 10 - 20 knots, over the next five days. Sea Surface Temperatures (SSTs) are a marginal 26 - 27°C, and will not change much over the next three days. There is plenty of dry, stable air from the Saharan Air Layer (SAL) to to TD 2's north that will continue to cause the storm problems. The relatively cool SSTs and dry air mean that TD 2 will not be able to intensify quickly. However, it does appear likely that TD 2 has enough going for it that it will eventually be able to become Tropical Storm Ana sometime in the next three days. Most of the computer models show some weak development, but none of them predict TD 2 will become a hurricane. It is unusual for storms forming this far north to make it all the way across the Atlantic to hit the Lesser Antilles Islands. For now, TD 2 doesn't concern me as much as the new tropical wave to its southeast, just off the coast of Africa.


Figure 1. Tropical Depression Two (left center of image) and a new tropical wave (right side of image), newly emerged from the coast of Africa.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic
A strong tropical wave with some rotation and plenty of heavy thunderstorm activity left the coast of Africa yesterday, and is located a few hundred miles south of the Cape Verdes Islands. The GFS and ECMWF models continue to predict the development of this wave late this week. Both of these models indicate that the wave would track further south than Tropical Depression Two, and could impact the Lesser Antilles Islands in about seven days. This storm bears close attention over the coming days.

Two other tropical waves, one that just passed through the Lesser Antilles Islands, and one about 300 miles east of the islands, are mentioned in NHC's Graphical Tropical Weather Outlook. Both of these waves have very limited heavy thunderstorm activity that is not increasing, and are not a threat to develop over the next two days. None of the computer models develop either of these waves.

Felicia moves through Hawaiian Islands as a tropical depression
Tropical Storm Felicia weakened to a tropical depression before passing through the Hawaiian Islands yesterday. The storm brought scattered heavy rains of 1 - 2 inches to the islands, and no damage was reported. Felicia is only the 10th tropical cyclone of tropical depression strength or higher to hit the islands since 1950. Four other tropical cyclones have passed within 75 miles of the islands during that time period.

Be careful clicking on external links in blog comments
A comment may have been posted on my blog over the weekend containing links to a malicious web site that infected some people's computers when they clicked on the link. The exact link responsible has eluded us thus far, and we are also investigating the possibility that a bad banner ad was responsible. To provide an extra layer of protection, we've installed software on the blogs that will now warn users that they are leaving the site when they click on an external link, so that one has do an extra click to go to an external site. This will give users an opportunity to think twice before clicking on a potentially dangerous link. I apologize to anybody who may have been affected by the attack. Please submit a support ticket to help us out in the future for any issues of this nature.

I'll have an update Thursday morning.

Jeff Masters
Categories: Hurricane
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451. Autistic2 17:22 GMT le 12 août 2009    
Just read this, for 1977 season
The first tropical cyclone of the season, Anita developed from a tropical wave on August 29 in the north-central Gulf of Mexico. It tracked westward into an area with conditions favorable for further development, and quickly intensified into a hurricane by late on August 30. Initially, Anita was forecast to strike Texas, though a building ridge turned it to the west-southwest. The hurricane rapidly strengthened to attain peak winds of 175 mph (280 km/h), and on September 2 Anita made landfall in eastern Tamaulipas as a Category 5 hurricane.

We should have a named storm sometime this week? sst in the GOM look like a cannon waiting to go off.
Member Since: 29 août 2008 Posts: 0 Comments: 277
452. 69Viking 17:22 GMT le 12 août 2009    
Quoting MethaneMike:
Hey Viking,
Sullivan twisted his ankle in practice. Got taped up and back on the field. Not sure about Harvin, though--he got hurt too.

TD2 is doing well due to spaceweather and elevated xray activity. Click my blog above for details.

Mike


Where you hearing that and are you a Viking fan?
Member Since: 25 août 2006 Posts: 0 Comments: 2247
453. TropicTraveler 17:22 GMT le 12 août 2009    
Quoting StonedCrab:
Hey anybody have any info about Claudette, Danny, or Erika yet?

Thanks in advance
(Way in Advance)

They're drinking tea over at the Boom Boom room, after which they'll be having a nice nap.
Member Since: 24 juillet 2007 Posts: 2 Comments: 896
455. extreme236 17:23 GMT le 12 août 2009    
Oh I didn't see we had a special advisory to begin advisories on TD 10-E.
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456. extreme236 17:24 GMT le 12 août 2009    
The NHC seems to be a lot more willing to make these special advisories recently.
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457. RMM34667 17:25 GMT le 12 août 2009    
I think the posts here have gone into the sewer. Definately inappropriate.
Member Since: 7 septembre 2006 Posts: 5 Comments: 910
458. palmbaywhoo 17:27 GMT le 12 août 2009    
Quoting RMM34667:
I think the posts here have gone into the sewer. Definately inappropriate.


i'll second that in a heartbeat
Member Since: 18 août 2008 Posts: 0 Comments: 331
459. TropicTraveler 17:27 GMT le 12 août 2009    
Quoting RMM34667:
I think the posts here have gone into the sewer. Definately inappropriate.

Don't know if you meant my post - if so didn't mean any offense - merely pointing out that those future storms are a long time away and have lots of time for normal activities before they go on stage.
Member Since: 24 juillet 2007 Posts: 2 Comments: 896
460. hydrus 17:28 GMT le 12 août 2009    
Quoting ssmate:


It is, but the models are suggesting Bill is gay so don't expect it to happen.
lol...
Member Since: 27 septembre 2007 Posts: 1 Comments: 14314
461. WatchingThisOne 17:30 GMT le 12 août 2009    
Quoting Patrap:
Google TCHP


Data ends July 20th. This posted in red at top of the web page: "The real-time estimates and data distribution of AOML TCHP fields have been discontinued."

What am I missing?
Member Since: 15 juillet 2005 Posts: 3 Comments: 1249
462. PcolaDan 17:29 GMT le 12 août 2009    
Quoting TankHead93:
I asked this earlier, but no one responded to my question. Can ANYONE tell me how to get to the current TCHP using Google Earth? Greatly appreciated! ;)


I've looked all over because just googling TCHP only gives you outdated info. Nothing seems to be recent. Guessing you already know this though, which is why you are asking for help. If anyone knows where to find this it would be Orcasystems. You might WU mail him of look for him later here if he is not on right now.
Member Since: 22 août 2008 Posts: 12 Comments: 6008
463. hurricane23 17:29 GMT le 12 août 2009    
Quoting Drakoen:
Looks like Bill sucks up all the juice out Ana's tight little low on the CMC.


Garbage.
Member Since: 14 mai 2006 Posts: 8 Comments: 13276
464. Autistic2 17:30 GMT le 12 août 2009    
Quoting RMM34667:
I think the posts here have gone into the sewer. Definately inappropriate.


It was tied to the weather. Sort of, One system merging with the other and all. lighten up, life is short.
Member Since: 29 août 2008 Posts: 0 Comments: 277
465. Drakoen 17:30 GMT le 12 août 2009    
Quoting hurricane23:


Garbage.


The innuendo or the CMC?
Member Since: 28 octobre 2006 Posts: 57 Comments: 29010
466. Drakoen 17:32 GMT le 12 août 2009    
Quoting Autistic2:


It was tied to the weather. Sort of, One system merging with the other and all. lighten up, life is short.


Exactly!
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467. cg2916 17:30 GMT le 12 août 2009    
Is it just me, or has TD 2 picked up a little more speed in the last few floater frames?
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468. cyclonekid 17:31 GMT le 12 août 2009    
Any Thoughts?
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470. cg2916 17:32 GMT le 12 août 2009    
Quoting cyclonekid:
Any Thoughts?

Hope it doesn't hit land.
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471. cg2916 17:33 GMT le 12 août 2009    
Quoting WeatherStudent:
good afternoon, everyone.

Hey, WS!
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472. caneswatch 17:33 GMT le 12 août 2009    
Quoting cyclonekid:
Any Thoughts?


what storm is this?
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473. 69Viking 17:33 GMT le 12 août 2009    
Quoting CycloneOz:


We all make choices in life...and those choices, as trivial or momentous as they may be each moment, shape our entire lives...right up to and including when we pass on.

One of the choices I've made is to intercept U.S. landfalling hurricanes. This is a choice fraught with "high-risk" activities as any sensible person will realize. And though my public decision to do such a thing may influence others to "try their hand at it," at no time have I encouraged this "choice I've made" onto others...never.

I'll always be "the fool" to those who think my choice to hunt down TCs is a stupid idea.

To others, I'll be something else...a form of entertainment, a source of information...etc.

I'm okay with all that.

But I cannot be faulted when people make high-risk choices based on "I can do what he's doin'" ideas. That is my disclaimer.

Do not attempt to ever venture into a landfalling hurricane. Hurricanes are extremely dangerous and are recognized as known killers. If you have not evacuated an area expecting a landfalling hurricane, then hunker down as best you can until the storm abates.


LOL, I live in the Florida Panhandle and have found there is no need to chase them, they come to us at least once every 3-5 years! Dennis put 2 feet of water in my garage when the northeast eyewall went over my house 2 months after I just moved into a new house we had built! Luckily the house was built up to new codes after Ivan and the house suffered no damage! Ivan was the scary one, that devil landed late at night and howled for hours! He helped me get a new architectural shingled roof on my old house!

Oz, look me up if you come to my area, I haven't left for a storm yet and know some pretty sweet areas to SAFELY watch them make landfall!
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474. cyclonekid 17:35 GMT le 12 août 2009    
Quoting caneswatch:


what storm is this?
Maka
Member Since: 14 juillet 2009 Posts: 51 Comments: 1629
475. hurricane23 17:34 GMT le 12 août 2009    
Quoting Drakoen:


The innuendo or the CMC?


Cant say i dont agree.Joe b on set up comparisons to floyd. Might florida be as lucky this time? VIEW VIDEO HERE
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476. cg2916 17:34 GMT le 12 août 2009    
Quoting caneswatch:


what storm is this?

Maka in the CPAC.
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477. nrtiwlnvragn 17:35 GMT le 12 août 2009    
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478. FLHurricaneChaser 17:35 GMT le 12 août 2009    
Quoting 69Viking:


LOL, I live in the Florida Panhandle and have found there is no need to chase them, they come to us at least once every 3-5 years! Dennis put 2 feet of water in my garage when the northeast eyewall went over my house 2 months after I just moved into a new house we had built! Luckily the house was built up to new codes after Ivan and the house suffered no damage! Ivan was the scary one, that devil landed late at night and howled for hours! He helped me get a new architectural shingled roof on my old house!

Oz, look me up if you come to my area, I haven't left for a storm yet and know some pretty sweet areas to watch them SAFELY make landfall!


You have experienced strong TS or Cat 1 winds at most.
479. CybrTeddy 17:36 GMT le 12 août 2009    
TWD on African Wave 205 PM
TROPICAL WAVE IS INTRODUCED ALONG 18W S OF 17N MOVING W AT 15 KT.
SATELLITE IMAGERY AND SSMI TOTAL PRECIPITABLE WATER IMAGERY
SHOWED A WELL DEFINED WAVE OFF THE COAST OF WEST AFRICA. UPPER
AIR SOUNDINGS FROM DAKAR SENEGAL ALSO DEPICTED WAVE PASSAGE.
WIDELY SCATTERED MODERATE CONVECTION IS FROM 6N-16N BETWEEN
15W-25W.
Member Since: 8 juillet 2005 Posts: 253 Comments: 20260
480. reedzone 17:36 GMT le 12 août 2009    
Quoting hurricane23:


Cant say i dont agree.Joe b on set up comparisons to floyd. Might florida be as lucky this time? VIEW VIDEO HERE


Afternoon Adrian, I was mentioning that earlier a few pages ago. Very similar to the week before Floyd. The CMC is out to lunch in my opinion.
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482. CybrTeddy 17:38 GMT le 12 août 2009    
23, do you think we'll see a major Hurricane in the coming weeks? The conditions do favor it, and quite a few models are on it, CMC, GFS, ECMWT, ect. It is the time of the year, and TD2 pretty much took care of the dust and shear looks low.
Member Since: 8 juillet 2005 Posts: 253 Comments: 20260
483. reedzone 17:38 GMT le 12 août 2009    
Quoting reedzone:
Joe Bastardi who is a MET.. Even though he might go overboard in forecasting tropical cyclones and blizzards, he is still a certified MET and knows how weather works. He showed something that kind of got my attention. He showed a map of the warm and cooling temperatures a week before Hurricane Floyd hit the East Coast. Then he showed the warm and cool temperature contrast for right now and said this is extremely similar to the week before Floyd hit. Then he showed the warm and cooling trend when Hurricane Floyd struck the East Coast, then showed the forecast warm and cooling trends for next week. Absolutely similar! This wave has to be monitored closely and local METS on the East Coast are constantly mentioning it. Bastardi also mentioned that people were told to prepare for Floyd 10 days before it hit. Thought that would be interesting to note.


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484. hcubed 17:39 GMT le 12 août 2009    
Quoting 69Viking:


Nice of you to quote me and then exit stage.

I've followed this blog a long time and I can't ever remember this much pre-this and pre-that. This has been going on for a week with two systems that have yet to develop and now it's confusing when someone says pre-ana or pre-bill, you have to guess what entity they are actually talking about. How about just refer to TD#2 as TD#2 and refer to the African wave as the African wave? At least then everyone will know what one they are talking about. I'm sure most of us can decipher their code but is it necessary? It would be nice for new people to not have to guess, just my opinion that you obviously don't agree with, good day.


Here, I agree. How many times have a couple of systems formed, where one was named/declared before the other?

Its possible that "pre-bill" may get upstaged by a pop-up system somewhere else and lose its place in the line...
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485. WxLogic 17:40 GMT le 12 août 2009    
Quoting hurricane23:


Cant say i dont agree.Joe b on set up comparisons to floyd. Might florida be as lucky this time? VIEW VIDEO HERE


Good question... we shall see definitely by the time TD#3 materializes.
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486. JRRP 17:40 GMT le 12 août 2009    
HWRF is showing TD 2 a bit more south
Link
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487. hurricanehanna 17:41 GMT le 12 août 2009    
Quoting slavp:
At least the CMC no longer shows that system in the GOM

Hey - it's unfortunately still there. Does shift it more to TX than a LA/TX landfall
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488. reedzone 17:42 GMT le 12 août 2009    
The HWRF now forms Bill the African wave on the TD2 12Z run.
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489. Stormchaser2007 17:42 GMT le 12 août 2009    
Lets not get ahead of ourselves here...

All we have here now is an extremely large disorganized tropical wave with a large area of low pressure. This will take at least two days to organize. Its actually so large that it resembles a west pacific invest.

Member Since: 9 juin 2007 Posts: 4 Comments: 15248
490. cg2916 17:43 GMT le 12 août 2009    
Quoting leftovers:
check the history of landfalls in e cent florida. we looked hard but never have found a major making landfall here. south florida though is a different story

Once again, glad I live in the Upstate of SC. The last time we got something was back in 2004 with two extratropical depressions. Charley, a bnig rain-maker, and Frances, which blew everything on the ground.
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491. nrtiwlnvragn 17:43 GMT le 12 août 2009    
000
ABNT20 KNHC 121741
TWOAT
TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
200 PM EDT WED AUG 12 2009

FOR THE NORTH ATLANTIC...CARIBBEAN SEA AND THE GULF OF MEXICO...

THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER IS ISSUING ADVISORIES ON TROPICAL
DEPRESSION TWO...LOCATED ABOUT 630 MILES WEST OF THE SOUTHERNMOST
CAPE VERDE ISLANDS.

THE SMALL LOW OVER THE SOUTHEASTERN CARIBBEAN SEA HAS WEAKENED AND
DEVELOPMENT OF THIS SYSTEM IS NOT EXPECTED. THERE IS A LOW
CHANCE...LESS THAN 30 PERCENT...OF IT BECOMING A TROPICAL CYCLONE
DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS.

A LARGE AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS BETWEEN THE CAPE VERDE
ISLANDS AND AFRICA IS ASSOCIATED WITH A VIGOROUS TROPICAL WAVE.
SLOW DEVELOPMENT OF THIS SYSTEM IS POSSIBLE OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS
AS IT MOVES TO THE WEST AT 10 TO 15 MPH. THERE IS A MEDIUM
CHANCE...30 TO 50 PERCENT...OF THIS SYSTEM BECOMING A TROPICAL
CYCLONE DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS.

ELSEWHERE...TROPICAL CYCLONE FORMATION IS NOT EXPECTED DURING THE
NEXT 48 HOURS.

$$
FORECASTER BEVEN

Member Since: 23 septembre 2005 Posts: 11 Comments: 8937
493. hurricane23 17:43 GMT le 12 août 2009    
Quoting WxLogic:


Good question... we shall see definitely by the time TD#3 materializes.


Remember watching that buzz saw back in 99 it was really something as it was making a bee line right for southeast florida.
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494. CybrTeddy 17:44 GMT le 12 août 2009    
Expect 90L here shortly, medium chance on the African Wave.
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495. Drakoen 17:46 GMT le 12 août 2009    
I agree StormChaser, it will take at least 2 days to get a good low forming.
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496. hurricane23 17:45 GMT le 12 août 2009    
Orange code right of the african coast.
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497. extreme236 17:45 GMT le 12 août 2009    
Quoting Stormchaser2007:
Lets not get ahead of ourselves here...

All we have here now is an extremely large disorganized tropical wave with a large area of low pressure. This will take at least two days to organize. Its actually so large that it resembles a west pacific invest.



Im not much for giving time frames on development. Should it take 2 days? Yes, but I've seen crazier things.
Member Since: 2 août 2007 Posts: 19 Comments: 19234
498. slavp 17:45 GMT le 12 août 2009    
Quoting hurricanehanna:

Hey - it's unfortunately still there.
LOL..Well, I must be going blind even faster than I thought ..I still don't see it on the 12Z run...Gettin old I guess lol
499. Cotillion 17:45 GMT le 12 août 2009    
ADT finally has TD2 improving. First time the AdjT# has been below the CI for a little while.

CI# /Pressure/ Vmax
2.7 /1003.0mb/ 39.0kt


Final T# Adj T# Raw T#
(3hr avg)
2.6 2.9 3.3
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500. Drakoen 17:45 GMT le 12 août 2009    
Area is upgraded to orange. We should see invest status soon.
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501. TreasureCoastFl 17:45 GMT le 12 août 2009    
Quoting PcolaDan:


I've looked all over because just googling TCHP only gives you outdated info. Nothing seems to be recent. Guessing you already know this though, which is why you are asking for help. If anyone knows where to find this it would be Orcasystems. You might WU mail him of look for him later here if he is not on right now.


look here:
http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/phod/cyclone/data/
Member Since: 18 août 2008 Posts: 0 Comments: 444

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About JeffMasters
Jeff co-founded the Weather Underground in 1995 while working on his Ph.D. He flew with the NOAA Hurricane Hunters from 1986-1990.

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