Will Recon Find Tropical Storm Dean?

Tropical Storm Dean Coverge can be found on our main front page. This system is just in the developing stages in the east-central Atlantic and could become a threat to the Leeward / Windward Islands and further west. Stayed tuned to this hurricane chasing blog’s front page for the latest on Tropical Storm / Hurricane Dean.

Tropical Storm Dean in the making? Caribbean Sea August 2007

Invest 99L looking better this midday, but moving too fast for it’s own good in forward motion. The tropical disturbance is moving near 25mph to the west, which is too fast for a system trying to develop, helping to add a sheared environment. It’s going to have to slow some or it’s going to continue to struggle to organize. Convection has increased significantly since this time yesterday and is more symmetrical in structure too, some what.

So, will this become Tropical Storm Dean later today, or remain a open wave? The National Hurricane Center has a recon flight mission currently ongoing as I type this to find out if this is a tropical storm now or not. They will look for winds speeds over 35mph, pressure, and try to close off a low-level circulation at the surface. I’ll edit this post with their findings later this afternoon once the recon mission into Invest 99L is complete.

Gulf of Mexico Interests:

I’m also monitoring a weak broad area of low pressure in the northeast Gulf west-northwest of Tampa Bay. This area has a chance of slow development if it continues, as some of the computer forecast models have been trending develop there for days. One things for sure, it’s pumping tons of moisture over Florida, and once again heavy rains are falling all over central Florida. Trust me, it truly feels tropical lately here in Florida once again after the long severe drought conditions.

So, I’ll be busy waiting for recon data, monitoring satellite trends of both area’s of interest, and local radars for video ops with local storms here in Florida. It’s getting busy out there, so stay tuned!