Today is Monday 22 October 2012 and we are about 80% done with the “official” 2012 Atlantic Hurricane season, but Mother Nature appears to be busy stirring potential cyclonic activity in the Caribbean and west-central Atlantic that could end-up affecting interest around the Caribbean basin, the Bahamas or Florida.
Let us take a look at what our neck-of-the-woods tropics may have in store tat may warrant a closer look:
GOES color-enhanced infrared satellite image (NOAA) showing some potential cyclonic development in the Caribbean and west-central Atlantic Ocean on 22 October 2012
First we see two large and strong storm cells close to one another in the central Caribbean to the south of Hispaniola moving generally toward the SW in an environment of rather warm surface waters and low wind shear aloft, which looks favorable for tropical cyclone generation over the next few hours. Beyond any potential cyclonic development today a combination of atmospheric features over the Gulf of Mexico and Florida may contribute to a change of course for this system to a more northerly or even northeasterly track over the next couple of days, which would take the potential storm into an environment of strong wind shear. Should this speculative forecast actually take place Jamaica, Hispaniola, Cuba and the Bahamas could be impacted by some strong winds and plenty of rain and thunderstorms later on this week. Interaction with Florida may also take place, but we’ll have to wait until mid-week to get a better read on that.
Visible light satellite image (NASA) showing the cell of low pressure and disturbed weather in the central Caribbean on 22 October 2012 that is showing potential for cyclonic development as early as today
Beyond the Caribbean over the open waters of the west-central Atlantic Ocean some 1,100 kilometers northeast of the Virgin Islands there is a region of low pressure with plenty of thunderstorms, which is showing signs of getting better organized and potential for cyclonic development over the next 36-48 hours. This system is moving toward the north and all indications are that it may turn toward the northeast posing no threat to Florida or other USA coastal regions along the Atlantic seaboard.
Satellite image under visible light (NASA) showing a cell of low pressure and stormy weather over the west-central Atlantic that may develop further over the next 36-48 hours as it moves over open waters
Farther to the East the assembly line over Equatorial Africa is generating tropical waves, but it appears that with the change in seasons and the movement of the Sun’s zenith southward of the equator this tropical wave activity has also shifted southward toward the equator, which could mean traffic along ‘hurricane alley’ may also take the southerly route and either move over Panama and Central America and beyond over the eastern North Pacific ocean or possibly get into the Caribbean to threaten interest in central America, the Yucatan or the Antilles. So, we still need to keep an eye of this activity and be prepared for any eventuality over the next few weeks.
Color-enhanced infrared satellite image (NOAA) showing tropical wave generation over Equatorial Africa and the eastern Atlantic on 22 October 2012
Elsewhere in the world there is wide-spread storm activity over the Indian Ocean including one cell off India’s west coast that is showing signs of potential cyclonic development. While in the Philippine Sea near the Philippine’s eastern coast there is an area of low pressure and stormy weather that may potentially develop into a tropical cyclone over a region that has seen significant activity so far in 2012.
Color-enhanced infrared satellite image (NOAA) showing plenty of tropical activity over the Indian Ocean on 22 October 2012 including a potential tropical cyclone off shore to the west of India
- Color-enhanced infrared satellite image (NOAA) showing potential tropical cyclone activity over the Philippine Sea off the east coast of the Philippines on 22 October 2012
In summary there are several ‘hot spots’ with potential for cyclonic development around the world on this Monday 22 October 2012, but the tally of actual tropical cyclones that have been generated so far this year still points to another sub-par worldwide season for this year at least although there are still seventy days left until the end of the year.
Against this background of worldwide tropical cyclone activity, it should be noted that the threat pose by sea level rise continues unabated. While many may tend to dismiss sea level rise as a significant hazards, some for ideological reasons and others because they focus on the current average rise of 3 mm per year and believe that is truly insignificant, the reality is that this hazards is already causing serious problems in the coastal regions of many countries and island nations. Just last week numerous scientists had their eyes on the coastal region of southeastern Florida where several instances of flooding took place at high tide in locations that used to be “high and dry” just a few years ago. On this topic it is important to note that every storm surge event that impacts the coasts of Florida or other states along the Gulf or Atlantic regions already carries the imprint of sea level rise in the form of higher water depth and waves. It is clear that quietly, but yet surely and irreversibly, sea level rise has the potential for contributing to vast amounts of damage along our coastal regions, which in some cases may include a significant alteration of our own way of life as we have known it up to now.
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