Position: 13.4N 37.7W [10 PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: West [280°] near 12 mph [19 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 40 mph [ 65 kph].
Wind Gusts: 50 mph [ 80 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 70 miles [110 km].
Minimum central pressure: 1005 mb.

Currently about 1585 miles [2550 km] East of the Leeward Islands.

This is the busy part of the hurricane season as Gaston becomes the fourth Tropical Storm in the last eleven days.

After looking at the models and discussion on this storm, I don’t think the Gulf of Mexico is going to be happy with Gaston, after the Caribbean is unhappy with the storm. I am not seeing a turn to the North.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

Position: 21.8N 64.1W [10 PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: Northwest [305°] near 23 mph [37 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 60 mph [ 95 kph].
Wind Gusts: 70 mph [110 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 140 miles [220 km].
Minimum central pressure: 1000 mb ↑.

Currently about 270 miles [430 km] North of San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Fiona is stronger this morning as it moves by the Leeward Islands. The Warnings and Watches have been discontinued as Fiona moves North of the islands.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

Position: 27.8N 73.8W [10 PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: North-Northwest [330°] near 18 mph [30 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 140 mph [220 kph].
Wind Gusts: 165 mph [265 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 230 miles [370 km].
Hurricane Wind Radius: 90 miles [150 km].
Minimum central pressure: 932 mb ↓.

Currently about 520 miles [840 km] South-Southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.

Earl went through an eye wall replacement cycle yesterday and then sucked in some dry air, but it seems to be recovering over the very warm water.

A Hurricane Warning is in effect for Bogue Inlet, North Carolina northeastward to the North Carolina-Virginia border including the Pamlico and Albemarle sounds.

A Hurricane Watch is in effect for North of of the North Carolina/Virginia border to Cape Henlopen, Delaware and Woods Hole to Sagamore Beach, Massachusetts including Marthas Vineyard and Nantucket.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect from Cape Fear to west of Bogue Inlet, North Carolina and from the North Carolina-Virginia border to Sandy Hook New Jersey including Delaware Bay south of Slaughter Beach and the Chesapeake Bay south of New Point Comfort.

A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for Sandy Hook New Jersey to Woods Hole, Massachusetts including Block Island and Long Island Sound and North of Sagamore Beach to the mouth of the Merrimack River, Massachusetts.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

… and the legislature is outraged.

Florida Supreme Court strikes 3 GOP-backed amendments from Nov. 2 ballot

TALLAHASSEE — The Florida Supreme Court struck a blow to the GOP-dominated legislature Tuesday by stripping three proposed constitutional amendments off the November ballot, ruling they were confusing to voters.
…

The rulings are the latest in which the court has asked lawmakers “not to play games when it comes time to write amendments,” said Ron Meyer, a constitutional lawyer who argued against Amendment 7, the legislature’s redistricting amendment. “Stop hiding the ball. Stop wordsmithing. Be direct. In the words of the statute, be clear and unambiguous.”

The Court upheld lower court rulings that Amendment 3 [a temporary tax break], Amendment 7 [redistricting], and Amendment 9 [health care] failed to pass the test for a clear summary that would be put on the ballot, i.e. the summary didn’t explain what the amendments would do.

In the case of Amendment 7, it would neutralize Amendments 4 & 5. Those two amendments were designed to get politics out of the redistricting process and produce compact districts, rather than the rather strange creatures that inhabit the current political map of Florida.

If you are not from Florida, this was about the language that was to appear on the actual ballot. This has nothing to do with what is in the amendments. The Court is not pre-judging the language of the amendments themselves, only the summaries for the ballot. You have 75 words or less to explain what your amendment will do, and the Court decides whether your summary actually does that.