Tropical Storm Katia likely to be hurricane in days
Tropical Depression 12, as forecast, became Tropical Storm Katia overnight. And forecasters at the National Hurricane Center say she will reach hurricane force by late Wednesday or early Thursday.
Looking farther down the road, forecast models have Katia reaching Cat. 3 ("major") hurricane strength by the weekend.
For now, Katia poses no threat to land. At 11 a.m. the NHC put the storm 630 miles west southwest of the Cape Verde Islands off West Africa. The highest sustained winds were 45 mph, with more strengthening expected as the storm gets better organized.
Katia was moving to the west northwest at 18 mph, a course that was expected to continue for at least 48 more hours.
Forecast models show the storm eventually approaching the Bahamas. One then curves it to the north before reaching the East Coast of the U.S.
Here is the latest advisory for Katia. Here is the forecast discussion. And here are the forecast tracks.
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Comments
One of the better websites to check, in terms of ease of use and good information is www.stormpulse.com. It presents satellite imaging as well as forecast path etc - essential for hurricane planning!
Posted by: VI Pat | August 30, 2011 11:54 AM
Also, this site: http://crisislanding.appspot.com/
FR REPLIES: Pretty simple, but it works.
Posted by: Jeff | August 30, 2011 1:33 PM
Frank - do we have any guesstimates as to when Katia will move through/past our area?
No surprise to me that your blog gets so many hits, as you do a great job. Many thanks!!
FR REPLIES: Thanks! If it gets this far, probably not until late next week sometime. Awfully far out to say precisely.
Posted by: lyndyb | August 30, 2011 2:27 PM
What would we call 2 back-to-back hurricanes striking this area? Hurrigeddon? Hurrpocolypse? We have snowmageddon for the twin blizzards last year.
Posted by: BigDragon | August 30, 2011 5:35 PM
BigDragon: My vote would simply be a four letter word - He##
Posted by: lyndyb | August 30, 2011 7:36 PM
The big high pressure moving in will affect the hurricane's path. The timing will be interesting. I'm leaving for OC next weekend - might have some excitement!
Posted by: steve | August 30, 2011 11:30 PM