Hurricane Screamer

Last night, the NHC upgraded storm Invest 91L to Tropical Storm Bill. Even though Bill will be a short lived tropical storm, it has the potential of causing torrential rains and flooding over the next few days in Texas and points east. Parts of the Texas coast are forecast to receive up to four feet of rain.

As of the 8 AM advisory, Bill was located about 30 miles from the Texas coast, had winds of 60 MPH and a central pressure of 997 MB. The outskirts of Bill are already making landfall.

As for the future of the storm, Bill is forecast to weaken to a tropical depression by tomorrow morning, make a gentle curve towards the east while traveling north, and eventually pass by through the states of Oklahoma, Arkansas, Ohio and Indiana and then continue east. Tropical storm force winds extend 150 miles out from the storm’s center and the rain field is much larger. Don’t assume that you will be free of effects simply because you live 100 miles away from the eventual storm track.

The center of the large storm Invest 91L has reached the halfway point between the Yucatan and the Texas coast. Winds continue at 35 MPH for the eastern and northeastern quadrants. It is moving towards the western Texas coast at 15 MPH. A hurricane Hunter aircraft is currently investigating the disturbance to see how well it has organized. As of the 8 AM NHC outlook, Invest 91L has an 80 percent chance of organizing enough to be declared a tropical depression or named storm. If it does get a name, it will be “Bill.”

As of 8 AM, the tracks for this storm predict that it will move through eastern Texas, then make a slow turn towards the east, and pass through Oklahoma, Kentucky, West Virginia and Virgina, finally entering the Atlantic in about ten days. The storm is fairly large, and will affect weather at least 300 miles from its center.

This morning, the NHC began posting statements regarding storm Invest 91L. This slowly growing storm system is currently centered over the Yucatan peninsula and is heading in a generally northern direction towards the central Texas Coast. It will not arrive for five days, and according to the NHC, there is a 50 percent chance it will be organized enough to be considered a tropical weather system. After that, the storm is forecast to travel further north and then make an abrupt eastern turn, heading over Tennessee and North Carolina.

At the moment, it has 35 MPH winds. I have no other information regarding pressure or temperatures.