NHC Tracking TS Erin; Weather Front over Yucatan

The National Hurricane Center in Miami is currently tracking Tropical Storm Erin – the fifth named storm of the season – as well as a weather front, currently over Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, which has a 60 percent chance of becoming a tropical cyclone.

The ‘Yucatan’ front has already triggered the evacuation of some personnel from Gulf of Mexico oil platforms, but it has yet to coalesce into a cyclonic storm.

Erin is another matter. Although it is currently a long way away – 430 miles, 695 kms, west of the Cape Verde Islands, it is potentially at least the first hurricane of the season. It could also be just another weather disturbance that dissipates as it crosses the Atlantic Ocean. However “Cape Verde” storms do have a history of becoming violent hurricanes, so Erin does bear watching.

Maximum sustained winds are currently 40 mph, 65 km/h. Erin is moving west/northwest, a track that would come close to Bermuda, at around 16 mph, 26 km/h. The NHC said “this general motion is expected to continue with a gradual decrease in forward speed during the next couple of days.

Minimum central pressure is 1007 mb – 29.74 inches, and “some slow strengthening is forecast during the next 48 hours.”

Source: National Hurricane Center

Topics Hurricane