Troubling Words on Tropical Storm Dean

The latest National Hurricane Center forecast discussion, from forecaster Eric Blake, is blunt:

BASED ON WHAT WE THINK WE KNOW ABOUT INTENSITY CHANGE...THERE DO NOT SEEM TO BE TOO MANY INHIBITING FACTORS TO A FUTURE INTENSIFICATION OF DEAN. GLOBAL MODELS UNANIMOUSLY DEVELOP A LARGE UPPER-LEVEL ANTICYCLONE NEAR THE CENTER OF THE HURRICANE AS THE SYSTEM TRAVELS INTO THE CARIBBEAN SEA. IN COMBINATION WITH VERY DEEP WARM WATERS...THIS PATTERN WOULD FAVOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A POWERFUL HURRICANE.

Here is the latest track for Dean, which is supposed to be a hurricane within 24 hours:

i-7ca7747cf2028f337e3be851df1e3bc0-Dean Track August 15 5 pm ET.gif

Tags

More like this

The Hurricane may (or may not) directly strike the Outer Banks.) I've updated the title of the post to update concern that Hurricane Arthur has a much increased chance of directly striking coastal regions in North Carolina. Scroll down to the most recent update below to find out more. I'm adding…
Hurricanes are well defined systems with characteristics that quite literally set them apart from other storms. Large storms such as Nor'Easters are sometimes less well defined and interact more with major troughs, the jet streams, etc. We have come to understand Hurricanes as the worst case…
SEE ONGOING UPDATES BELOW FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION Tropical Depression Eleven is currently located way east of Florida, and is predicted to become a tropical storm by Tuesday night some time. It would be nameD Joaquin. Some time Wednesday night, the storm is predicted to turn north and head…
LATEST UPDATE IS HERE. CLICK HERE FOR LATEST UPDATE. Update: Wed Mid Day Matthew weakened, strengthened, strengthening Matthew has interacted with land masses in Hispaniola and Cuba to the extent that the storm weakened quite a bit, losing its temporary Category 5 status. But, now Matthew is…

Thats a too familar sort of track, likely into the gulf of Mexico. Fortunately its a fairly narrow passage (if Dean wants to avoid damaging itself with land interaction).

I'm headed to Varadero, Cuba for a week-long vacation on Friday. The city is just on the (north) edge of the 4-5 day forecast track, so hopefully it'll miss entirely. Still a bit worrying though...

Chris,

I am in Baton Rouge. We've already started stocking up on batteries and ice. Gotta beat the "it's on the Gulf" rush.

I have bad feelings about this storm (despite being a rationalist). I really don't want to go through a Katrita phenomenon again.

Kiss Sheril for me.

Cheers,
Jeb, FCD

It also looks similar to Wilma, which wreaked havoc on the Yucatan peninsula. (My sister's ground-floor apartment had water three feet deep in the living room, and lots of hotels in Cancun got completely smashed to pieces). I hope they don't have to live through that again, just after rebuilding.

Hey Folks,
thanks for all the comments. Remember there's still very high uncertainty about where Dean will go, though looking at the track, I get pretty worried too. And indeed, I woke up and the storm is now officially a hurricane.

I disagree with the Wilma analogy. Wilma developed in the Caribbean as often happens with our October hurricanes. By contrast, Dean is one of the dreaded Cape Verde-type storms, which travel all the way across the Atlantic, building up strength along the way. A better (and equally scary) analogy might be Hurricane Ivan.

Finally, Fred, I think Metro Manila would only have gotten rainfall from Sepat, which I've been watching closely. This storm is out over the water and that's where it has done its intensification....

cm