Talking the Tropics With Garrett: Tracking an E. Atlantic tropical wave through the weekend

Jacksonville, Fl. — The “Buresh Bottom Line”: Always be prepared!.....First Alert Hurricane Preparation Guide... City of Jacksonville Preparedness Guide... Georgia Hurricane Guide.

STAY INFORMED: Get the * FREE * First Alert Weather app

FREE NEWS UPDATES, ALERTS: Action News Jax app for Apple | For Android

WATCH “Preparing for the Storm”

WATCH “The Ins & Outs of Hurricane Season”

READ the First Alert Hurricane Center “Survival Guide”

LISTEN & WATCH “Surviving the Storm” - WOKV Radio & Action News Jax

***** ALWAYS CHECK & RE-CHECK THE LATEST FORECAST & UPDATES! *****

REMEMBER WHEN A TROPICAL STORM OR HURRICANE IS APPROACHING: Taping windows is *not* recommended & will not keep glass from breaking. Instead close curtains & blinds.

Realize the forecast cone (”cone of uncertainty”) is the average forecast error over a given time - out to 5 days - & *does not* indicate the width of the storm &/or where damage that might occur.

Hello! First things first. What an honor to help out with “Talking the Tropics” while Mike is away from a computer! Now let’s get to it.

A weak surface trough in tandem with an “upper tropospheric trough” (TUTT) continues to produce numerous yet disorganized heavy showers & t’storms over the Bahamas and SW Atlantic. This trough will move W/NW producing heavy rain & gusty winds on its east side but no true tropical development is expected. Downpours from this “TUTT” will enhance rain and embedded storms for our local area in NE Florida/SE Georgia starting as early as today and especially into Friday.

Eastern Atlantic... A tropical wave continues to move west-northwest across the Eastern Atlantic. The wave will remain over the open Atlantic through at least the upcoming weekend. There is some possibility for development this weekend or early next week as it moves into the Central Atlantic. Early indications suggest that this may be a “recurve.” It looks like, as of now, there will be a weakness in a ridge of high pressure over the Atlantic. This, in conjunction with an upper-level trough over Northeast U.S., should help whatever develops to turn north and miss the U.S. All of that said, we will need to see if and when it actually develops to get a better handle of the long-term forecast.

Water vapor loop (dark blue/yellow is dry mid & upper level air):

July tropical cyclone origins:

Averages below based on climatology for the Atlantic Basin for August:

Wind shear:

Saharan dust spreads west each year from Africa by the prevailing winds (from east to west over the Atlantic). Dry air - yellow/orange/red/pink. Widespread dust is indicative of dry air that can impede the development of tropical cyclones. However, sometimes “wanna’ be” waves will just wait until they get to the other side of - or away from - the plume then try to develop if other conditions are favorable. In my personal opinion, way too much is made about the presence of Saharan dust & how it relates to tropical cyclones. In any case, the peak of Saharan dust typically is in June & July.

2023 names..... “Emily” is the next name on the Atlantic list (names are picked at random by the World Meteorological Organization... repeat every 6 years). Historic storms are retired [Florence & Michael in ’18... Dorian in ’19 & Laura, Eta & Iota in ‘20, Ida in ‘21 & Fiona & Ian in ‘22]). In fact, this year’s list of names is rather infamous with “Katrina”, “Rita” & “Wilma” retired from the ‘05 list & “Harvey”, “Irma”,“Maria” & “Nate” from the ‘17 list. The WMO decided - beginning in 2021 - that the Greek alphabet will be no longer used & instead there will be a supplemental list of names if the first list is exhausted (has only happened three times - 2005, 2020 & 2021). The naming of tropical cyclones began on a consistent basis in 1953. More on the history of naming tropical cyclones * here *.