Tropical Storm Katia – Day 4
Position: 16.7N 50.6W [10PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: West-Northwest [290°] near 16 mph [26 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 70 mph [110 kph].
Wind Gusts: 80 mph [130 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 140 miles [220 km].
Minimum central pressure: 990 mb.
Currently about 830 miles [1335 km] East of the Leeward Islands.
The storm is being steered by a ridge. If a gap forms in the ridge it will move more to the North. Only one of the models is showing that move today, while the others have continuing towards the East Coast. Hopefully the gap will occur, because the East Coast doesn’t need another storm at the moment.
Katia has encountered some wind shear problems caused by a low pressure system to the North of it. The low is expected to move out in the next day or so, and Katia will resume strengthening.
Invest 93 has a 80% chance of going tropical in the Gulf and it moves slowly towards the Northwest. The water in the Gulf is 90°+, so there is plenty of energy available.
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.]
