Stormy Setup for New Year’s Eve
Gulf Low Develops, Image: Unisys Weather
Happy Holidays Everyone! I hope you enjoyed your Christmas. It was a stormy Christmas across the Midwest. The weather has finally quieted this Sunday.
Look at the computer model forecast for the storm setup this Thursday. Another low pressure system will develop in the Gulf of Mexico. Tuesday, coastal Texas will be doused with heavy rain. The thunderstorms will then move to Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. On Thursday, Georgia and the Carolinas will be feeling the brunt of the storm.
What happens next is a long way off, but the East Coast may be preparing for a stormy New Year’s Eve.
Low Develops off East Coast, Image: Unisys Weather
Currently, the main thunderstorm activity will be off the coast, but by Friday and Saturday, the low tries to redevelop just off the coast of New Jersey, and it could be another snowmaker for parts of the Northeast next weekend.
-Dawn Brown
Flooding Rains Across Gulf South
Radar, Southeast States, Image: NOAA (Image is OLD!)
Click here for the latest radar imagery.
Flooding rains continue to fall in New Orleans, Louisiana this morning, as a tropical air mass collides with a cold front. Flash flood watches are in affect for Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina today. The cold front will begin to march east later tonight. New Orleans has experienced a record amount of rain in the last few days with 21.20″ of rain since December 1. Rain is still falling.
After a brief break, more rain is possible at the end of the week as another Gulf low sets up south of Houston, Texas.
Today's Temperature Forecast, Image: NOAA
An arctic air mass is once again trying to make its way into the Great Lakes region. It’s in the single digits in Minneapolis today.
Temperatures along the Gulf South will drop from the 70s to the 50s by Wednesday.
A Pacific storm is dumping rain and snow across the Northwest.
-Dawn Brown
Baja Prepares for Another Hit
Hurricane Rick Satellite, Image: NOAA
Baja California is preparing for another strike by a hurricane this season. Resort towns near Los Cabos, Mexico are preparing for a direct hit. Visible satellite imagery above shows a weakening Hurricane Rick, although it still packs winds up to 105 miles per hour this Monday afternoon. In September, Hurricane Jimena made landfall north of resort areas near Los Cabos as a category 2 hurricane, quickly weakening as it moved onshore.
Wind Probabilities Hurricane Rick, Image: NOAA
3 Day Track Forecast Hurricane Rick, Image: NOAA
Currently, National Hurricane Center forecasters believe the storm will still be a hurricane when it approaches Los Cabos on Wednesday. Wave action caused by the storms’ high winds is already being blamed for one death in the Los Cabos resort area. The first image above is a product from the National Hurricane Center that shows the probability of tropical storm or hurricane force winds. Currently there is a 70-80% chance of tropical storm force winds affecting Cabo San Lucas on Wednesday.
Large swells from the storms high winds over the last several days will definitely affect the coast of Baja and Mexico. At one point Rick’s maximum sustained winds topped out at 180 miles per hour. Category 5 hurricanes on the Saffir-Simpson scale are 155mph+.
For the latest on Hurricane Rick, please go to my section on Tracking Hurricanes and the MYL Forums.
For the latest on the high swells, check out the forecast from Surfline. Their blog is on the menu bar on the left hand side. Surfline has some great forecasters with the latest information on wind and wave action.
On the East Coast of the United States, it feels like winter! Cold weather advisories are in effect from Georgia to Pennsylvania.
-Dawn Brown