Unbeliveable! ANOTHER tropical strom!

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

Late season tropical storm, the 27th of the year, forms in the eastern atlantic,

At 1 pm ast, 1700z, the center of tropical storm zeta was located near latitude 25.0 north, longitude 36.9 west or about 1070 miles, 1720 km, southwest of the azores.

Zeta is moving toward the northwest near 8 mph, 13 km/hr. A turn to the west-northwest is expected during the next 24 hours.

Maximum sustained winds are near 50 mph, 85 km/hr, with higher gusts. Although some strengthening is possible later today, a weakening trend is expected to begin tomorrow.

Tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 85 miles 140 km from the center.

Estimated minimum central pressure is 1003 mb, 29.62 inches.

Repeating the 1 pm ast position, 25.0 n, 36.9 w. Movement toward, northwest near 8 mph. Maximum sustained winds, 50 mph. Minimum central pressure, 1003 mb.

The next advisory will be issued by the national hurricane center at 5 pm ast.

 

[disneyholic family]

that's pretty late in the year....i guess mother nature doesn't know how to read a calendar....

 

[Claire L]

Just seen this, wonder if it is the latest TS on record?

Claire

 

[Merylj]

Wow that is amazing! Thanks for the reports Obi, thats a great service you do for us all

 

[Netty]

obi, are there any signs yet for next years hurricane season, whether it will be better or worse than this years?

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

obi, are there any signs yet for next years hurricane season, whether it will be better or worse than this years?

Better than this year but still over the average:-

Experts release 2006 forecast

By Tim O'Meilia
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2005

The hurricane season won't be Greek to us next year, says William Gray's Colorado State University hurricane-forecasting team, and chances of four major hurricanes striking the U.S. again are slim.

Yet, Gray is predicting a double-the-average storm season in 2006 with 17 named storms (reaching only the letter R in hurricane names), nine of which could become hurricanes and five of which are expected to develop into major storms, with winds of 111 mph or more.

While that's far fewer than this year's record-setting marks of 26 tropical storms (forcing the use of the Greek alphabet to name them), 14 of which were hurricanes and seven of which were major hurricanes, it would be more than any other recent year.

"After this year, some people may think, '17 named storms? That's not so bad. We can deal with that,' " said Philip Klotzbach, Gray's top research associate. "But it's still a very active hurricane season."

By Gray's calculations, Palm Beach County has a 10.1 percent chance of a tropical storm strike and a 3.1 percent chance of being hit by a hurricane.

Martin County has a 3.8 percent probability of a tropical storm and 1.2 percent of a hurricane. St. Lucie and Okeechobee counties are even less.

Higher-than-normal Atlantic Ocean temperatures and a weak La Niña in the Pacific make a busy storm season likely, the forecast said.

The historic average is 9.6 named storms, 5.9 hurricanes and 2.3 major hurricanes.

Gray said the increased storm activity of the past few years "is likely to continue in the Atlantic basin for the next 15 to 20 years, but the probability of seeing another two consecutive hurricane seasons with as many land-falling hurricanes as was witnessed in 2004 and 2005 is very low."

Klotzbach said the increased storm activity combined with a high pressure ridge off the U.S. coast worked to steer an unusual number of storms onto the eastern seaboard or into the Gulf Coast.

Of the 13 major storms that formed the past two years, seven struck the U.S. The historic average is one of every three.

"The Bermuda high can't be that strong or in the same place every year," Klotzbach said.

He said the role of the high will be more clear in the spring. Klotzbach will take over as the lead forecaster as Gray concentrates on global warming studies.

Still, the team said there's an 81 percent chance at least one major hurricane will hit somewhere in the United States, compared with the average of 51 percent.

Last December, the Colorado State team forecast 11 tropical storms, which included six hurricanes, three of which were major - less than half of what eventually happened - but bumped their prediction up when hurricane season began in June.

The National Hurricane Center also underestimated the record-breaking season.

"I want the predictions to be spot-on," Klotzbach said, "but the storms to stay out in the middle of the ocean."

 

[Netty]

thanks for the info Obi, very interesting read.