Wild Weather in the Tropics

      Many of you have been keeping up with Hurricane Matthew since many are either headed to the Gulf coast or soon will be for fall break. I have been watching this closely and I am thinking it would be better to avoid Florida altogether.

 
 If you must go to the Gulf side of Florida, you may be okay but the Atlantic coast of Florida now has hurricane warnings in place. Some evacuations are already underway. Traffic may become snarled and gas and other supplies are running short.
      I don’t know how much of this will extend to the Gulf coast side of Florida but it is something to be aware. Matthew is now gaining strength again, possibly getting back to Category 5. Hurricane Matthew will head toward the east coast of Florida as a major hurricane Thursday night through Florida. Areas from West Palm Beach to Jacksonville will have hurricane-force wind gusts and excessive rains. Damage from Matthew will be limited to the immediate coastal areas of Florida.
      Inland areas will get wind gusts to 40 mph and heavy rains. Storm surge could be severe as well. There is still some question as to how close Matthew will get to the coast in Florida and Georgia but right now it looks as though it will be close enough to cause damaging wind, flooding rain and storm surge. Even a considerable ways inland in that area there can be enough rain for flooding and enough wind to down trees and power lines.
      We expect that Matthew will cause problems well inland in the Carolinas since the center will likely make landfall in North Carolina or maybe as far southwest as the Myrtle Beach area. To make matters worse, Tropical Storm Nicole has formed northeast of Matthew, and still another storm could be forming behind that. Tropical Storm Nicole will kick up rough surf and rip currents in Bermuda as it moves south of the island into the weekend. Now this gets even crazier. Some of the recent models have Matthew looping back toward the Bahamas and Florida for a second time after pounding North Carolina.
     This is absolutely nuts and it may threaten Florida a second time. If this occurs, it would not clear the region before mid-month. Not only that, but on the other side of things, serious cold is in the offing…or at least it appears to be. A few key time periods to watch out for are late next week, Halloween, and Election Day. More on that in future posts. Feel free to leave comments and be sure to hit the "Like" button at the bottom of this post.