Central American Death Toll Up to 39!

NOAA IMAGE

LEFT CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE.

The entire post beyond this sentence is taken verbatim from this morning’s weblog by Dr. Jeff Masters’ at http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/.

“One of this hurricane season’s biggest disasters continues to unfold in Central America, where the death toll now stands at 39 from ten days of heavy rains triggered by last week’s Tropical Depression Sixteen and this week’s tropical disturbance 91L. At least 10,000 homes have been destroyed and 250,000 people made homeless by the floods. Hardest hit is Honduras, where 23 are dead and 8 missing in flash floods and landslides. Approximately 60% of the nation’s roads have been damaged, and the flooding is the worst since Hurricane Mitch of 1998 killed 10,000 people there. The past week’s flooding has also killed four in Guatemala, seven in Costa Rica, four in Nicaragua, and four in El Salvador. In Belize, damage is at least $15 million from the floods, and some areas are seeing flooding worse than was experienced during Hurricanes Mitch and Keith. Satellite estimates suggest that up to a foot of rain has fallen over some parts of Central America in the past week. The heavy damage to crops across the region will likely cause severe food shortages in coming months, and substantial international aid will be required.

Rains over the hardest hit areas of Central America have eased in the past day, with only 1-2 inches of rain reported. However, visible satellite loops show that heavy thunderstorm activity continues over the Western Caribbean, and has moved into northeast Honduras and Nicaragua this morning. While there is currently little chance that a tropical cyclone will form in the Western Caribbean over the next five days, persistent low pressure and sporadic heavy rains will continue to affect the region. A strong cold front is expected to push southward into the area next Tuesday or Wednesday, and the tail end of this cold front could serve as the nucleus for a new tropical disturbance that will generate another round of very heavy rains for Honduras and Belize late next week.

Elsewhere in the Tropics, no computer models are forecasting tropical storm development anywhere in the Atlantic over the next seven days.”

CARIBBEAN SYSTEM HAS MEDIUM POTENTIAL FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENT.

TWO LEFT CLICKS WILL ENLARGE IMAGES A GREAT DEAL

According to the National Hurricane Center, the tropical wave in the Caribbean has a medium potential for tropical cyclone development.  For those of you who don’t understand that here is a brief explanation.

In order for a system to be cyclonic there must be a rotation of the wind around a low pressure center.  Presently there is no indication of a closed rotation in this otherwise impressive system.  A tropical wave (also called a tropical disturbance) becomes a tropical depression if rotation begins.  Ordinarily the rotation itself signals a maturing (growth) of the system.  Once rotation begins, the conservation of angular momentum kicks in such that as the wind spirals closer and closer to the center its velocity increases.  Tropical depressions can intensify into tropical storms (39-73 mph) and the latter can intensify into hurricanes (74 or more mph).  Here is the formal statement from the Hurricane Center:

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TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK

NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL

800 PM EDT SAT SEP 20 2008

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

1. A TROPICAL WAVE…ACCOMPANIED BY A SURFACE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM OVER THE NORTHEASTERN CARIBBEAN SEA…IS PRODUCING WIDESPREAD CLOUDINESS AND SHOWERS OVER THE LESSER ANTILLES…AND ADJACENT CARIBBEAN AND ATLANTIC WATERS.  THIS SYSTEM IS SHOWING SIGNS OF ORGANIZATION…AND UPPER-LEVEL WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO BECOME A LITTLE MORE FAVORABLE

FOR DEVELOPMENT OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS.  A TROPICAL

DEPRESSION COULD FORM DURING THIS TIME AS THE SYSTEM MOVES SLOWLY NORTHWESTWARD.  AN AIR FORCE RESERVE UNIT RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT IS SCHEDULED TO INVESTIGATE THE SYSTEM ON SUNDAY…IF NECESSARY.  REGARDLESS OF DEVELOPMENT…LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS WILL AFFECT MUCH OF THE LESSER ANTILLES…THE VIRGIN ISLANDS AND PUERTO RICO THROUGH SUNDAY.

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On the infrared satellite image above from the U.S. Naval Research Lab, I have marked two islands that don’t need any more precipitation for a while due to recent tropical systems having dumped heavy (and deadly) loads upon them.  Flooding and mudslides are likely if this disturbance moves as expected, over the islands.  For the same reasons, Cuba also stands a risk of increased problems.

Please visit the rest of this web-log at http://cloudman23.wordpress.com/.  If you are interested in weather, there are some tutorials scattered about and more will be added in time.

HAITI IS IN TROUBLE!

It is my understanding that, because of Ike, things are far worse in Haiti than they were when this photo was taken.  If you are inclined to contribute in order to help, the website beneath the photo links to a source for that purpose.  LEFT CLICK ON PHOTO FOR LARGER IMAGE.