NEW TROPICAL STORM - HERMINE

10:45 pm Update: Original assessment of Hermine staying a tropical storm when it makes landfall may have been premature. Winds have increased from 40 mph at 5am to 50 mph at 11am (all times EDT) Current forecast from the National Hurricane Center mention that Hermine could become a hurricane in 12 to 24 hours.

Written by: Brian Neudorff

The eighth tropical storm of the 2010 Atlantic hurricane formed this morning in the Gulf of Mexico, tropical storm Hermine. It's not pronounced like Harry Potter's "Hermione" but her-MEEN.



The forecast for Hermine has it making landfall south of Brownsville, TX later tonight early Tuesday morning. It doesn't appear that it will become a hurricane but it will definitely have an impact on northeast Mexico and south Texas with 4 to 8 inches of rain.



We are four days from statistical peak of the Atlantic hurricane season, it continues to be fairly active. Out side of tropical storm Hermine, the National Hurricane Center continues to monitor the remnants of what was once tropical storm Gaston for possible development.

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS HAVE BECOME LESS ORGANIZED DURING THE PAST FEW HOURS IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE REMNANT LOW OF GASTON...LOCATED ABOUT 400 MILES EAST OF THE NORTHERN LEEWARD ISLANDS. ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO BECOME MORE CONDUCIVE FOR DEVELOPMENT OVER THE NEXT DAY OR SO AS THE SYSTEM MOVES WESTWARD AT ABOUT 15 MPH. THERE IS A HIGH CHANCE...70 PERCENT...OF THIS SYSTEM BECOMING A TROPICAL CYCLONE AGAIN DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS. HEAVY RAINS AND GUSTY WINDS SHOULD BEGIN TO AFFECT PORTIONS OF THE LEEWARD ISLANDS LATER TODAY AND TONIGHT...AND INTERESTS IN THOSE ISLANDS SHOULD MONITOR THE PROGRESS OF THIS SYSTEM.