Ike Reintensifying as Hanna Races Away

As of 5pm, the center of Tropical Storm Hanna was located about 40 miles west-northwest of Ocean City, MD and racing off to the northeast at 28 mph. Hanna will become a large extratropical cyclone over the north Atlantic Ocean by late Sunday. Very heavy rains will be affecting the New England and Mid Atlantic region tonight and be long gone by tomorrow.

Therefore our attention will turn to now CATEGORY FOUR Hurricane Ike. Yes, I said category four. Ike has rapidly re-intensified this afternoon and now has winds of 135 mph. Ike will cause extreme harm to the southeastern Bahamas over the next 24 hours. Persons in the Bahamas should be prepared for a catastrophic event as this powerful and deadly hurricane will chug along. This is a dangerous situation! Models agree that Ike will move very close, if not over the coast of Cuba, where it should allow the storm to weaken a little bit. However, Ike is forecast to enter the Gulf of Mexico where intensification should once again resume. The cyclone will be near Cuba in about 36 hours, and in the Gulf in about 72. All interests in the Keys and the US Gulf Coast should monitor this dangerous situation!

Foggy Morning

Light drizzle will persist through about noontime today in the Mahoning Valley, but the big story will be the foggy conditions this morning. Take extra care when driving this morning, as visibilities are down to a quarter of a mile in some spots. Your Saturday high will be in the mid to upper 70s, but don’t expect to see too much in the way of sunshine, while a complete cloudy day isn’t likely. Tonight, skies become partly cloudy as temperatures dip into the mid 50s, a much more pleasant night than we have had previously.

Hanna Makes Landfall; Ike Moves On

Reports from the National Hurricane Center indicate that Tropical Storm Hanna made landfall around 320 am this morning near the North and South Carolina border. The center also reports that the winds at landfall were between 65 and 70 mph, so Hanna wasn’t a hurricane. Nevertheless, today’s weather from North Carolina and eventually all the way up through New England later will be filled with very heavy rain and the possibility of flooding. Currently as of 8am, the center of Hanna was 40 miles east-southeast of Raleigh, NC.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Ike has remained a dangerous category 3 hurricane with winds of 115 mph as it moves west-southwestward towards the Bahamas. Right now it appears that Ike will continue west-southwestward over the next day or so, bringing it near the southeast Bahamas, but models are now trending more on a path over Cuba thereafter. Of course, this land interaction will allow Ike to weaken. (Remember what happened to Gustav after being impacted by land). Therefore the intensity forecast remains problematic. Right now there is still a little bit of shear over the storm keeping it in check. However, looking at satellite images of the storm, the inner core is very much in tact, so the shear won’t disrupt the circulation too much. If the center of Ike remains just north of Cuba, not too much weakening will occur, but if the storm goes over Cuba Ike will likely weaken a little bit. But once the storm emerges into the Gulf, conditions will be ripe for development. While it doesn’t appear as likely for a direct hit in the Keys or South Florida, some impacts will be felt. They are still in the northern part of the forecast path cone, so pay attention to later forecasts.

Meanwhile, the last advisory has been issued on Tropical Depression Josephine as the storm has degenerated into just a swirl of clouds in the open Atlantic.