Storms 411

A hurricane watch has been issued for the southern Peninsula of Florida

A hurricane watch has been issued for the southern Peninsula of Florida from New Smyrna southward on the east coast, and from south of Chokoloskee southward along the west coast. A hurricane watch remains in effect for all of the Florida Keys from Ocean Reef to the Dry Tortugas. A hurricane watch is also in effect for Anddros Island in the northwestern Bahamas, the Biminis and Grand Bahama Island. Hurricane warning is in effect for the southwestern peninsula of Haiti from the Haiti-Dominican Republic border westward to the southwest tip of Haiti. A tropical storm warning is in effect for the Cuban provinces of Guantanamo, Santiago de Cuba, Ranma, Olguin, Las Tunas and Camaguey and the Ragged Silands and Great Exuma Island in the central Bahamas. A tropical storm watch is in effect for the Cayman Islands

At 11 a.m., EDT, Monday, the center of Tropical Storm Ernesto was located near 20.3 north and 75.7 west. It is over the eastern tip of Cuba, about 35 miles west northwest of Guantanamo, Cuba, with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph. Ernesto was moving to the northwest at near 10 mph. The surface pressure is 1006 millibars or 29.71 inches.

On Sunday, Ernesto became the first hurricane of the 2006 Atlantic Hurricane Season with maximum sustained winds reaching 75 mph. However, after moving over the mountainous terrain of southwestern Haiti, Ernesto weakened to a tropical storm by Sunday afternoon. Ernesto is now over the mountainous terrain of eastern Cuba.  [read the rest of the story]

Tropical Storm Alberto is moving toward Florida and will make landfall today in the Big Bend region of the state.

Heavy rains and tornadoes remain the main threat across the Big Bend and Northeast Florida.

Tropical Storm Alberto has weakened slightly as of early Tuesday morning with maximum sustained winds now at 65 mph. Despite some weakening of the thunderstorms near the center of the tropical system, the area of rainfall is affecting much of North Florida and South Georgia. A Hurricane Warning remains in effect from Longboat Key, FL to the Ochlockonee River, FL. AccuWeather.com is forecasting landfall Tuesday morning around 9am edt.

Alberto not expected to reach hurricane strength

The first named storm of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season slightly strengthened early today in the Gulf of Mexico, prompting forecasters to issue tropical storm warnings for Florida's west coast. Tropical Storm Alberto had maximum sustained wind near 50 mph but was not likely to grow into a hurricane, the National Hurricane Center said. There were no major reports of damage.  Read more - CNN

2006 Hurricane Forecast

Joe Bastardi the lead Chief Forecaster of the AccuWeather.com Hurricane Center is predicting fewer storms, but will still be a season of above-average storm frequency in 2006.  In fact he stated that 1 in 6 Americans could be directly impacted by Hurricanes.

For the 2006 Hurricane Season-which traditionally runs from June 1 through November 30-Bastardi and his team are forecasting that six tropical cyclones will make landfall in the U.S. Five of these landfalling storms are likely to be hurricanes, with three being major hurricanes of Category 3 or greater.

"The 2006 season will be a creeping threat," said Bastardi. "Early in the season-June and July-the Texas Gulf Coast faces the highest likelihood of a hurricane strike, possibly putting Gulf energy production in the line of fire. As early as July, and through much of the rest of the season, the highest level of risk shifts to the Carolinas. From mid-August into early October, the window is open for hurricane strikes to spread northward to the more densely populated Northeast coast. At the very end of the season, southern Florida also faces significant hurricane risk."

"There are few areas of the U.S. East Coast and Gulf of Mexico that will not be in the bull's eye at some point this season," said Ken Reeves, AccuWeather's Director of Forecast Operations. Ironically, though, the region that was hammered the hardest last year-the central and eastern Gulf Coast-has one of the lower probabilities of receiving another major hurricane strike in 2006."

Added Reeves, "This is not to say that hard-hit New Orleans has nothing to worry about. Because the city's defenses have been so compromised by Hurricane Katrina, even a glancing blow from a hurricane elsewhere could spell trouble for the city." 

AccuWeather.com Hurricane Center Forecast for 2006

June 1: Hurricane Season Begins

The 2006 Atlantic Hurricane Season begins with rain from the Gulf to the Great Lakes.

The season begins with another day of tropical moisture flowing from the Gulf of Mexico into Texas. Chief Hurricane Forecaster Joe Bastardi has been closely monitoring the low pressure in the western Gulf for the past several days. Bastardi says even if the system fails to "feed back and develop" into a tropical system, the heavy rain will continue to hit the coastal areas of Texas into the weekend.

Twenty-four hour rainfall totals for the greater Houston area with some areas getting as much as 4 inches.  Corpus Christi received just over over two inches of rain from January 1 to Tuesday, May 30. Since then, the city has been soaked with nearly nine inches of rain!