Slow, Erratic, Hooking. Sound Familiar? Florida Mulls Round Two
Who could say what kind of thousand year cycle of harmonic orbital phasing this is, that the earth is presently transitioning through? But one thing we can see with our own contemporary eyes are a type of copy-cat tropical disturbance that seems to be in vogue with Mother Nature. While the Coriolis effect naturally causes northern hemisphere tropical cyclones to eventually veer northwest, why are big storms in addition to their traditional right turn, also sometimes now wanting to make U-Turns?
Don't they understand that these whimsical movements at too slow of a speed keeps us semi-stressed and dreaming at night of filling sand-bags?
Remember just two years ago Hurricane Harvey struck the lower Texas coast, went back into the Gulf to refuel on warm moist water and, returned taking a second bite out of the upper coast, Houston, Beaumont and well into Lake Charles.
This link clearly explains why hurricanes not only spin to the 'left' in the northern hemisphere but also makes it easy to understand why they also end up heading northeast, see it here.
The Prognosis
For now the National Hurricane Service does expect Potential Tropical Cyclone Nine to become a tropical storm. And woe to the poor people of tropical paradise in the Bahamas, no matter what else happens the system is expected to bring tropical-storm force winds and heavy rains to portions of the northwest Bahamas as soon as Friday and Saturday.
Even residents of Florida's east coast might see tropical storm-force winds and rainfall over the weekend. See all the details and fine print from the NWS here.
Otherwise let's count our own blessings and recall how other parts of the Gulf coast pulled together and sent help our way for floods and storms. Consider helping out with a local relief effort you're 1000% sure of, or designate a specific donation to Dorian victims at the Red Cross or Salvation Army.