Good morning bloggers,
Developing Hurricane Henri is topping the national weather news this morning. It will be intensifying from a strong tropical storm into a hurricane later today and then threatening the northeastern United States. Here is the latest track prediction and location:
A tropical storm gets a name once it reaches 35 knot sustained winds, or 40 mph. A tropical storm will become a hurricane when the sustained winds reach 74 mph, or 65 knots. Right now it has 60 knot winds, or just short of hurricane strength. I am expecting it to become a hurricane later today. It is tracking west and it is going to curve north and by Saturday it will be making a move towards New England. It is also forecast to weaken a bit off the coast there. So, this is not being forecast to become a major hurricane. This one is named Henri, and the "H" is silent.
This season, there have been quite a few named tropical storms already, with a few hurricanes. They have all been fairly weak hurricanes. We are expecting a few to become a bit stronger, but I need to see evidence of strengthening first. In big years there is usually a major hurricane before the end of August somewhere in the Atlantic basin. So, it is something to monitor and we will be monitoring this fact. In years with less impacting hurricanes, they are weaker, so let's see if there is any evidence of this LRC being able to produce stronger systems. As of this moment, we have not had any strong intensification. Let's see what happens with Henri, and Grace. Hurricane Grace is blasting into the Yucatan Peninsula as a hurricane, but just a Category 1.
Back Home In KC:
There are a few small showers and possibly a thunderstorm or two moving our way from the southwest this morning. This shows us that there is a weak disturbance moving our way. So, there is a slightly better chance of a shower or thunderstorm today, but that chance is still low at 30%. There is another chance Friday, as you can see below:
This model, our in-house model, shows a cluster of showers and thunderstorms approaching us on Friday Night In The Big Town. The SPC does have a marginal risk, or a level 1 out of 5 risk of severe weather in our area tomorrow night. Here is that risk:
We will be monitoring this closely. Here is the Kansas City Weather Time-Line:
- Today: Partly cloudy with a 30% chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Light south winds 5-15 mph. High: 88°
- Friday: Partly cloudy with a 30% chance of late afternoon and evening thunderstorms. Heavy rain is possible if you get underneath one of the evening thunderstorms. South winds increasing a bit to 10-20 mph. High: 88°
- Saturday: A few early morning showers or thunderstorms will be ending and moving away. Most of the day looks nice and warm with a south breeze. High: 87°
Have you entered our 3-Degree Warranty contest. We show a name every day we are within 3-degrees on the 6:30 news, and then someone wins $1,000 from the names we pull out each month. Good luck. Go to KSHB.com/contests to enter!
Thank you for spending a few minutes of your day reading the Gabbing With Gary blog. Have a great Wednesday,
Gary
