A 7 a.m. Look at All Our Tropical Systems: Hanna Now a Hurricane

We have three main systems we are watching this morning. Let’s run through them:

TROPICAL STORM GONZALO
Gonzalo is barely hanging on this morning at a very low latitude approaching the southern Windward Islands of Trinidad and Tobago.

Top winds are 40 mph. Moving west at 18 mph, it will emerge into the Caribbean today and will dissipate by Sunday afternoon as it encounters hostile wind shear off the coast of Venezuela.

HURRICANE DOUGLAS (PACIFIC)
Douglas has weakened slightly but is still headed toward the Hawaiian Islands and will pass near or through them tonight and Sunday.

It will bring damaging winds, flooding rains, and dangerously high surf, especially for east facing shores.

HURRICANE HANNA
Hanna has been upgraded to a hurricane based on data from the NOAA Hurricane Hunters, making it the first hurricane of the Atlantic season.

SUMMARY OF 700 AM CDT…1200 UTC…INFORMATION
———————————————-
LOCATION…27.1N 96.0W
ABOUT 90 MI…150 KM ENE OF PORT MANSFIELD TEXAS
ABOUT 100 MI…160 KM ESE OF CORPUS CHRISTI TEXAS
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS…75 MPH…120 KM/H
PRESENT MOVEMENT…W OR 270 DEGREES AT 9 MPH…15 KM/H
MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE…982 MB…29.00 INCHES

Here is a composite of radars from along the Texas coast:

The storm’s strong convection is evident on IR satellite:

The storm will bring storm surge flooding of 3-5 feet to parts of the Texas coast. Storm surge warnings are in effect.

Hurricane conditions will be felt along the coast from Ports Masfied to Mesquite Bay where hurricane warnings are in effect.

Rains of up to 9 inches could cause flash flooding across south Texas and Northeast Mexico.

Category: ALL POSTS, Tropical