Tropical Storm Franklin is now headed into the open waters of the Atlantic north of the Dominican Republic, and potentially more favorable conditions. Here is a link to the latest Key Messages regarding Tropical Storm Franklin (en Español: Mensajes Claves) from the National Hurricane Center, and here is the forecast impact swath using my TAOS/TC model:
Franklin caused some damage to the Dominican Republic and Haiti, mostly from mudslides and flash flooding. In the DR at least one death and two missing as of latest reports but otherwise impacts should be relatively light, impacts in Haiti should also have been light, but are unknown. Any additional misery is unwelcome in that tragic country.
Looking ahead, Franklin should become a hurricane over the next few days as it zig-zags towards Bermuda. Impacts there are highly dependent on the exact track, slight wobbles make a huge difference to islands. No real risk to the US other than waves, which means rip currents and beach erosion. The storm might brush the Canadian Maritime provinces next week, will know more this weekend.
Elsewhere, a couple of weak systems in the Pacific although Tropical Depression WP09 might be a problem for the northern Philippines this weekend. Back in the Atlantic, NHC has a disturbance currently in the Pacific near Honduras drifting northeast against the normal flow, entering the Caribbean Sea off of Belize, and perhaps becoming a tropical depression as it moves into the Gulf. This might be an issue next week for the eastern Gulf of Mexico, but way too early to get excited about it.
thank you, as always, for your level headed report without any sensationalism…. just the facts!