Friday Midday Update for Gustav & Hanna

Written by: Brian Neudorff

I don't have time for a full update, but Gustav is still a tropical storm with winds of 65 mph but the NHC is expecting intesification, and I think it could be very soon. Here is their take from the 11 a.m. EDT discussion.

GOES VISIBLE IMAGERY SUGGESTS THAT GUSTAV IS REGAINING ORGANIZATION NOW THAT ITS CENTER HAS EMERGED OVER WATER WEST OF JAMAICA. THE ADVISORY INTENSITY IS MAINTAINED AT 55 KT UNTIL WE RECEIVE NEW DATA FROM THE NEXT AIRCRAFT THIS AFTERNOON...ALTHOUGH IT IS POSSIBLE THAT GUSTAV IS ALREADY A LITTLE STRONGER. THE CYCLONE WILL HAVE MORE THAN 24 HOURS OVER THE VERY WARM WATERS OF THE NORTHWESTERN CARIBBEAN...AND BENEATH AN UPPER-LEVEL ANTICYCLONE...SO STRENGTHENING SEEMS IMMINENT AND COULD EVEN BE RAPID.

My own impressions of Gustav at first look I would have to concur and think Gustav will return to hurricane strength very shortly and it could be as early as the 2 p.m. update by the NHC.

Hanna is also a tropical storm with sustain winds of 50 mph. Here is what the 11 a.m. EDT discussion from the NHC say about Hanna's strengthening.

THE INTENSITY FORECAST FOLLOWS THIS SOLUTION AND CALLS FOR GRADUAL STRENGTHENING DURING THE NEXT 2 DAYS... BRINING HANNA TO HURRICANE STATUS. THEREAFTER THERE IS A LARGE AMOUNT OF UNCERTAINTY IN THE INTENSITY FORECAST. THE GLOBAL MODELS PREDICT STRONG NORTHWEST TO NORTH UPPER-LEVEL WINDS OVER HANNA... WHICH ONE WOULD THINK SHOULD HALT ADDITIONAL STRENGTHENING OR EVEN WEAKEN THE STORM. HOWEVER...NEARLY ALL OF THE INTENSITY GUIDANCE SHOW STRENGTHENING OR LITTLE INTENSITY CHANGE DURING THAT TIME

I know from the last 12 hours of watching the satellite loops of Hanna and Gustav they are beginning to look impressive. Here are some other sites with great insight on the tropics and the current storms of Gustav and Hanna.

Dr. Jeff Masteres Wunderground Blog | Pajamas Media "Weather Nerd" Brendan Loy | Alan Sullivan's Fresh Bilge | Houston Chronicles SciGuy Eric Berger | National Hurricane Center | WunderGround.com Gustav | Wunderground.com Hanna |