Weak Tropical Storm Arlene on Track for Mexico

Tropical Storm Arlene, Image: NOAA

The National Hurricane Center began issuing advisories on Tropical Storm Arlene at 7pm Central Daylight Time this Tuesday, June 28th. The storm’s satellite presentation isn’t all that impressive, but it’s kicking up some good wave heights in the central Gulf of Mexico (up to 12′). The area of showers and thunderstorms west of the Yucatan Peninsula has been fairly persistent over the last few days and observations near the center of the storms show maximum sustained winds of about 40 miles per hour.

Arlene is expected to make landfall just south of Tampico, Mexico sometime on Thursday. It could provide some heavy rainfall for Tampico, Ciudad Valle and San Luis de La Paz Mexico. This is a mountainous region of central Mexico and tropical storms can dump copious amounts of rain over this region.

For the latest statistics on Arlene, go to the National Hurricane Center website. This is expected to be a fairly active hurricane season.

Dawn Brown, FOX 8 New Orleans

The Threat Invest 95L Poses to the Gulf Coast

Invest 95L Satellite Imagery, Image: NOAA

National Weather Service link tracking Gulf Low. (Click on the Gulf Low tab above the radar imagery.)

Meteorologists across the Gulf Coast are closely watching Invest 95L despite its lack of organization and poor chance of development. With oil still gushing from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, this low and its associated wind and wave action could drive more oil into sensitive marshes and estuaries along the northern Gulf Coast. Yesterday, hurricane specialists Lixion Avila and Chris Landsea identified the low and gave it a 10% chance of development. We’d already had our eye on it in the FOX 8 Weather Department. Today, Avila and Landsea give it a 20% chance.

Stalled Frontal Boundary, Image: Unisys

In early June and July, the main source of tropical development in the Gulf of Mexico is a low that forms off of a stalled frontal boundary in the gulf.  You can see the position of the low is about 150 miles or so south-southeast of the boot of Louisiana. There’s a lot of wind shear and dry air affecting the low right now keeping it from developing into anything tropical. Wind shear is expected to remain fairly strong over the next couple of days. So, for this thing to develop, wind shear has to relax and the dry air will have to be replaced by a warm and tropical air mass.

Water Vapor Imagery, Image: NOAA

More troubling for Gulf Coast residents is the wind and wave action associated with a low pressure system east of Louisiana. With oil gushing offshore, a persistent southeast wind could drive the oil onshore. Wave heights are currently about 5 feet around the location of the Deepwater Horizon Incident. Wave heights are forecast to become 6′ offshore, keeping skimmers and other cleanup craft in safe harbor.

-Dawn Brown