It's Almost Comical Now...

So we thought Wilfred would be named in the Gulf today.  Nope, that name went to a system way out in the Atlantic.  OK, so it'll be Alpha in the Gulf.  Nope, "Sub-tropical Storm" Alpha forms near PORTUGAL !  Aw, C'Mon.  Seriously?

I understand the new technology allows NHC to see things that weren't seen in the past, but c'mon.  Back to whatever is in the Gulf.

TD 22 has a well defined low level circulation that will finally be named Beta I think!    A large cool surface high centered over Wisconsin has pushed a cold front into the northern Gulf.  Will that block whatever forms from coming towards us as the models are showing?

The difference with this storm is there is much cooler and drier air to its north.  What will that mean?

Well the 4 PM advisory is in and we have Tropical Storm Beta in the south central Gulf.  NHC's track pretty much follows the computer models.

T.S. Beta is moving NNE at 9 mph, but tomorrow will run into the blocking cold front that will force it to make a hard left turn towards Texas.  After that it will be a slow mover for several days and could become a Cat. 1 Hurricane.  As the surface high shifts off the East Coast next week, that might allow Beta to turn back to the north, but the interaction with the cooler and drier air SHOULD weaken it.   Bottom line, we will be watching this system for a long time.  Will it bring impacts locally?  Perhaps, but that won't be until the latter half of next week.   I'll discuss more on my new post around 10 pm, Stay tuned!