Category: Posts EN

Powerful, Unusual Hurricane Lorenzo Churning Towards the Azores

Written by Team Morecast

 

Hurricane Lorenzo achieved category five status late Saturday night over the warmer-than-normal waters of the central Atlantic. At that point Lorenzo was the strongest hurricane on record that far north and east. Since last night, Lorenzo has weakened significantly and is now a category three hurricane. Additional weakening is likely, however Lorenzo still poses a significant threat to the Azores.

 

 

Lorenzo is a large and powerful cyclone causing increased wave and surf activity all the way from portions of northeast South America to the Caribbean and the U.S. East coast. Fortunately for those regions, rough surf will be the only impact they’ll ever see from Lorenzo. The story is different for the Azores, however. Model guidance brings Lorenzo near or over the Azores, especially the westernmost islands, by Tuesday into Wednesday. Additional weakening is likely, but Lorenzo may still be a hurricane by the time it reaches the Azores. If it were to retain hurricane strength, Lorenzo would be the first hurricane to move through the Azores since Gordon in 2006. Damaging winds, storm surge and high waves, and locally flooding rains are expected regardless. The worst impacts are likely for the westernmost islands in the chain, Flores and Corvo.

 

 

Beyond mid-week, Lorenzo will continue to accelerate to the northeast. Some models bring the storm close to the British Isles late in the week, accompanied by gusty winds, heavy rains, and very large waves. However, other models predict Lorenzo will be absorbed by a larger system well to the west of the U.K. Interests in western Europe should pay close attention to forecasts in the next few days.

Major Early Season Snow Storm Rolling Down the Rockies!

Written by Team Morecast

 

Much of the country is still basking in late-summer heat, but for some winter is already rearing its head. A big early-winter storm has been pounding the eastern slopes and adjacent plains of the Canadian Rockies (see tweet below). Now it’s moving across the U.S. border and will be dropping record-threatening accumulations, especially in Montana.

 

 

 

September is a transition month for these northern latitudes, often characterized by high winds and wild swings in temperature. Snow is not unheard of in late September, especially in the higher elevations. However, the current storm is unusually moist and strong. Ahead of the system, winds have been gusting upwards of 60 mph (100 kph), leading some to take advantage of unusual wave activity on area lakes (see tweet above). However, the surge of cold air accompanying strong low pressure has led to heavy snow.

 

 

The snow has been spreading into Montana today and is expected to continue through Monday. Some of the peaks could see 2-3 feet of snow before all is said and done! The heavy, wet snow will combine with gusty winds to produce dangerous blizzard conditions. Trees and branches will come down, leading to power outages. Roads have already been closed and more closures will likely be needed.

Imelda Inundates Southeast Texas!

Written by Team Morecast

Tropical Storm Imelda has unleashed a deluge flooding rains over southeastern Texas. Although only technically a tropical storm for a few hours on Tuesday, it’s slow moving nature has lead to copious amounts of record breaking rain throughout the last several days. This is the second time within two years that the city of Houston and it’s surrounding suburbs have been severely affected by a tropical cyclone. The storm has many residents feeling like this is a second round of Hurricane Harvey, which struck the region in August of 2017. The area is still recovering from that storm.

With staggering amounts of rain falling, flash flooding has been widespread across the Houston metro area, and has led to numerous amounts of water rescues, as rainfall was falling at the rate of 3-4 inches an hour(76-101mm) at it’s peak. 4 deaths have been reported so far. One of them, a 19 year old man, drowned after being electrocuted while trying to save his horse from the flood waters. Several barges have broken away from there moorings, as one struck a bridge over the San Jacinto River. 13 counties in Texas have been declared a disaster area.

 

Imelda has become the 7th wettest tropical cyclone to strike the United States. On average, rainfall totals have ranged between 15-30 inches(381-762mm), while the highest amount reported was 43 inches(109mm) in Beaumont, Texas. Thursday was the wettest September day on record, and 5th wettest day ever for Houston, as 9.18 inches(228mm) was recorded.


Southeastern Texas is no stranger to tropical systems, and it’s low lying geography makes it especially susceptible to flooding. Nonetheless, residents of the region are simply fed up with massive amount of flooding that has occurred in recent years. While Hurricane Harvey stands as the benchmark for flooding, some areas have flooded worse with Imelda, such as the towns of Vidor, and Winnie, Texas. What Harvey did over the course of 4-5 days, Imelda did in 4-5 hours in those locations.

Hurricane Dorian Finally Departs U.S. Coastline!

Written by Team Morecast

Dorian made a fourth landfall this morning on the coast of North Carolina. After lingering off of the Southeast Coast for the last several days, the storm made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane with winds of 90mph(144kph) on Cape Hatteras, around 8:35am. Although substantial, this is no where near the strength of it’s first three landfalls in The Bahamas, where it roared ashore with winds clocked in at 185mph(298kph). Despite the weakened state, Dorian still brought destructive winds and an overwhelming storm surge along the coast, with the Outer Banks of North Carolina being hit the hardest.

The most severe damage in North Carolina has been on Ocracoke Island, where a higher than normal tide combined with relentless winds have brought record flooding. The flooding, brought in from the Pamlico Sound, has stranded up to 800 people on the island, and is the second highest water level on record. The island has been left only accessible by boat or air, as residents have been told to remain off the roads until crews are able to assess the conditions. Later in the afternoon on Friday, crews began transporting residents to nearby shelters until conditions improve.

At the peak of the storm, over 300,000 customers were without power, but that number has since significantly dropped as crews are working feverishly to restore the power. The highest wind gust reported was 110mph(177kph) on Cedar Island, North Carolina, while the highest rainfall total was 15.2 inches(386mm) on Pawleys Island, South Carolina. The storm surge on Ocracoke Island was up to 7 feet(2.1M).

 

Dorian is now racing out to sea, with the Atlantic provinces of Canada next in line to feel his affects. The storm may be gone, but not soon forgotten, as the trail of destruction in it’s wake is staggering. With a death toll still climbing, and damage estimates north of $10 billion dollars, it is very likely the name Dorian will be retired by The World Meteorological Organization, never to be used for future hurricane seasons.