Good morning! Our week is starting off quiet, and relatively comfortable for now. But, all eyes on the western Gulf of Mexico as Potential Tropical Storm 6 continues to organize and will very likely become Francine later today. It is forecast to become a Hurricane as it heads for the NW Gulf coast by mid-week. For us, by Wednesday, and particularly Wednesday night and Thursday, Tropical Downpours from Francine will bring much needed rain to our state. The rain risk continues through Friday. Here’s my brief forecast discussion.
TODAY: Mostly sunny. Comfortable humidity. High 88. Partly cloudy tonight. Low 66.
POTENTIAL TROPICAL STORM 6: PTC 6 is very likely to become Tropical Storm Francine later today in the western Gulf. NHC forecasts that this system will become a hurricane, with expected landfall along the NW Gulf coast perhaps by Wednesday evening. Francine will cause prolific rainfall amounts and a tornado risk.
Fir us: Thursday, potential local flood risk. The Tornado threat will be small but not zero. Wind gusts to 30+ mph possible.
NEXT FEW DAYS: Dry, nice weather continues through Tuesday. By Wednesday, and particularly Wednesday night and Thursday, as the Tropical Downpours from Francine brings much needed rain to our state. The rain risk continues through Friday.
. ELSEWHERE IN THE TROPICS: NHC is tracking two important systems in the Tropical Atlantic including Invest 92-L. After Francine, the next two names on the list are Gordon and Helene.
ON THIS DAY in Hurricane History: The Great Galveston hurricane of 1900. The hurricane claimed more than 8,000 lives, possibly as many as 12,000, making it the deadliest hurricane, and one of the deadliest natural disasters, in U.S. history.
SPACE STATION FLYOVER: Tonight (if clouds cooperate) at 8:31 look to the southwest sky for the ISS flyover. It will be very bright, and as it moves close to overhead, it will start to fade as it loses visible light from the sun heading northeast.
Thanks for reading the blog. There will be another complete Blog update and video forecast discussion tomorrow morning. This morning, everything is normal including LIVE on the Radio from 6 to 9AM on NewsTalk 93.1 – WACV. Have a nice day!