Dolly It Is...But Not For Long...

As I mentioned yesterday, I'd be shocked if NHC didn't name Dolly today.  I have no problem with the upgrade as satellite loops clearly show a well defined system.

Our increase in satellite technology allows us to upgrade systems that years ago would never have been named.  My issue is some folks take the increase in the number of named storms as some kind of climate signal.  A much better signal is whether the number of major hurricanes (Cat. 3+) are increasing.   If you do a 30 year comparison, the answer is no.  Take a much shorter time frame (5 years) and the answer is yes.  Dolly will not affect any land areas and will likely be gone in 2 days.

We are in a very complex weather pattern with many clusters of storms being triggered by upper disturbances.  One cluster is down along the northern Gulf coast and we'll need to pay attention if it begins to head northward.   The next several days will see above normal (70-80%) coverage of daily showers.  The next several hours will see another round of storms move through.

Where it's raining, it's not so hot.  After our morning storms, sunshine came out and we soared back above 90.

And don't forget, the Saharan dust is still coming.   Look for skies to become murky as the dust arrives.  Stay tuned!