Noaa Weather

Rain from the outer bands of Tropical Storm Emily began falling Tuesday in Puerto Rico as the system moved on a track that would take it to the island of Hispaniola within 48 hours and possibly to Florida by the end of the week.
With the storm stalling south of Puerto Rico, most government offices closed and people cleared water and other emergency supplies from store shelves. The showers and wind gusts were sporadic and there were no reports of major flooding or injuries.
The storm was expected to bring up to 6 inches (15 centimeters) of rain in Puerto Rico, enough to trigger floods and mudslides to an island that is already saturated from months of heavy rain.
The storm was moving on a northwestern track that forecasters said would reach Hispaniola, the island shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic, by Wednesday. Both countries, but especially Haiti, are prone to devastating floods.


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Weather Channel

Before the end of this year’s hurricane season the local television company CITN says it will be introducing a 24/7 local weather cable channel which will be broadcast on channel 24. The station said the channel will be automatically updated with the latest local, regional, and international weather news including hourly local forecasts, and storm alerts. CITN has also announced plans to broadcast Cayman 27 in high definition which will include programmes from Island 24 which is now going off air, officials said.
In a release the television company stated that the equipment has been ordered and plans are underway for the major upgrade. WestStar customers will be able to watch the local channel in standard definition on channel 27, and subscribers to WestStar’s HD service can watch in high definition on channel 327. Viewers that receive the signal free over-the-air may need a converter box if their TV cannot receive digital signal.
General Manager and Director of WestStar, Mike Martin said it was an exciting time for the station. “Last year we launched new local programming and now that we are upgrading to HD everyone will be able to experience better picture quality.”


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Weather Underground

Tropical Storm Emily is forecast to strengthen today as it approaches the Dominican Republic.
Emily is about 245 miles (394 kilometers) southeast of San Juan,Puerto Rico, traveling west at 16 miles per hour, according to an advisory issued by the U.S. National Hurricane Center at 5 a.m. in Miami. Tropical storm-force winds extend 70 miles from the core.
The storm has maximum sustained winds at near 40 miles per hour and its center will move across the northeastern Caribbean Sea today and approach the island of Hispaniola as early as tonight, according to the NHC. Data on  Inc.’s website show Emily is projected to head toward Cuba, the Bahamas and possibly Florida.
“It could be impacting the Florida peninsula this weekend,” said Andy Mussoline, a meteorologist with AccuWeather Inc. in State College, Pennsylvania. Florida is the world’s second-largest producer of oranges, behind Brazil.
A storm is named when its maximum winds reach 39 miles per hour, the threshold for it to be classified as a tropical storm.
Tropical storm warnings were issued for Puerto Rico and the islands of Guadeloupe, Desirade, Les Saintes and Marie Galante, Vieques and Culebra and the Dominican Republic.
Tropical storm watches were issued for the U.S. Virgin Islands, Haiti and the islands of St. Kitts, Nevis, Montserrat and Antigua.
Category 1 Possible“Tropical storm conditions are possible in the watch area in the Leeward Islands over the next few hours, in the U.S. Virgin Islands later this morning and in Haiti by Wednesday,” the center said. Mussoline said the system may grow into at least a Category 1 hurricane, with winds of at least 74 mph on the five-step Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.
A Category 1 storm, the weakest type of hurricane, can shatter windows, tear off roofs and destroy older mobile homes, according to the hurricane center.
“As evidenced by the amount of time it took this system to consolidate around a single center, the environment is only marginally favorable for strengthening in the short term,” the hurricane center said in an earlier advisory.
In the eastern Pacific Ocean, Tropical Storm Eugene grew into a Category 1 hurricane with maximum winds of 90 mph, according to the center. Eugene is forecast to take a track moving to the west-northwest, which will keep it away from land for the rest of the week.
Eugene, the fifth hurricane to form in the eastern Pacific this year, is 445 miles southwest of Manzanillo, Mexico, according to the center.
An area of disturbed weather has also formed near the Gulf of Tehuantepec that has a 20 percent chance of becoming a tropical cyclone in the next two days, the center said in a tropical weather outlook.


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Houston Weather

Will Houston (and the rest of Texas, for that matter) beat the famed "Curse Of The Dry Star State"? While I am not certain about the advance of Tropical Storm Don, which has had more hiccups and false development than any storm since Marco (2008), there are some hopeful signs that this feature could organize further and make an approach a bit closer to the Bayou City than current NHC forecasts would seem to indicate.
The two big knocks against an important rainfall event from Don are the upper level weakness to its northeast (siphoning off moisture) and the lack of enthusiasm shown by the various numerical models for either strengthening or a northward track adjustment. Still, the expansion of the vast heat ridge complex gives us hope that outflow issues will be resolved, enough to allow for strengthening in the remaining time over the warm water of the Gulf of Mexico. But given the fast forward speed, and rising 500MB heights, intensification may be offset by a track through South Texas late Friday into Saturday morning. In other words, I am not very excited about rainfall chances from Don reaching into Houston.


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