Tropical Storm Rafael has formed just south of Jamaica. Here are links to NHC’s Key Messages regarding Tropical Storm Rafael (en Español: Mensajes Claves). Watches and Warnings are up for Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, Cuba, and with the 4pm ET advisory, parts of the Florida Keys:
Here’s the impact swath based on the latest forecast. NHC has bumped up the intensity a bit, given the better organization seen in the last few hours. Here’s the latest impact swath, showing higher impacts in Cuba than the morning runs, now upwards of $500 Million:
The northern Gulf coast is now advised to “regularly monitor updates to the forecast.” That doesn’t mean wear out your refresh key, but it does mean check back in the morning. Note that conditions over the Gulf are not favorable like they were earlier this year, and the storm is expected begin to decline after it crosses Cuba.
More in the morning …
As usual, thanks, Chuck!! There was a yellow blob out there aimed at the Bahamas a day or so ago. Anything about it??
It went away, there is a new one as the models show a low spinning up there in 6-7 days, but it’s only 20%; lots of uncertainty.