We have indeed turned the corner on COVID-19. It happened in late August or early September. Unfortunately Trump, “De Mentis” of Florida, “Noclue” of South Dakota et al. didn’t ask for directions and turned the wrong way. With mask and social distancing requirements imposed by major retailers and sane government officials, we had been on a downward slope until that point.

You may remember the demand to open schools, and threats to funding if there weren’t in-person classes. Schools are the nations daycare centers for low-paid workers getting back to work. Colleges and universities apparently needed to open to provide live sports TV on Saturday. This resulted in the increase in the spread of cases that every infectious disease expert predicted, following the jump start in the upper Mid West caused by the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. As was commonly said by my elders when I was growing up- “You can buy them books, but they’ll just eat the covers and use the rest for toilet paper.” (Most people waited until after they had read the book before using the pages for toilet paper to the time of COVID.)

Position: 18.1N 83.8W [10PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: North-Northwest [330°] near 2 mph [ 4 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 60 mph [ 95 kph].
Wind Gusts: 70 mph [115 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 115 miles [185 km].
Minimum central pressure: 997 mb.

Currently about 260 miles [ 420 km] Southeast of Cozumel.

A Hurricane Warning is in effect for the Yucatan Peninsula from Tulum to Rio Lagartos, including Cozumel.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for the Cuban province of Pinar del Rio.

The storm is wobbling with no specific direction as it gets stronger.

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: 48.6N 38.8W [10PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: Northeast [055°] near 46 mph [74 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 70 mph [110 kph].
Wind Gusts: 80 mph [130 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 450 miles [720 km].
Minimum central pressure: 968 mb ↑.

Currently about 675 miles [1090 km] East-Northeast of Cape Race, Newfoundland.

This is the last public advisory issued by the National Hurricane Center on this system.

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.]