Before I begin with today’s entry, I wanted to let everyone know that I shot some video last week of the remnants of Ernesto affecting Central Jersey in two locations: Somerset and South Plainfield. So feel free to check it out.

It took a while, but finally the tropics here in the Atlantic are getting active. As of today, we have had seven named storms, two hurricanes, and no major hurricanes. However, over the last month or so, over half of the named storms to form this season have developed with two of them becoming the only hurricanes thus far in 2006. Both hurricanes have been modest with Florence being the strongest of them all with 90 mph winds, and a minimal central pressure of 972 mb, or 28.70 inches of Hg (Mercury).

The most recent tropical system to emerge in the Atlantic waters is Tropical Storm Gordon, which is presently located some 445 miles to the North-Northeast of the Leeward Islands. Maximum sustained winds have increased to 60 mph while the minimum central pressure has dipped to 1000 mb, or 29.53 inches of Hg. The storm, which first became a depression on September 10th, strengthened to become the seventh named storm of the season late in the afternoon on September 11th.

Gordon is expected to be just a threat for the open waters of the Atlantic. It may give some high surf and blustery conditions to Bermuda, but it should stay well away from the island. The forecast calls for this system to intensify into the third hurricane of 2006 within the next 24 hours. Speaking of Bermuda, the island will probably be very thankful that Gordon will curve to the east after the havoc Hurricane Florence wrought on Monday. Florence, which became a depression a week ago Sunday, came within less than a 100 miles of the island, but the vast storm still had its powerful northeast quadrant pound it.

Currently, Florence is undergoing an extratropical transition. What that means is that the storm is converting itself from a warm core system to a cold core system. Tropical cyclones are known as warm core systems since they have warm air rotating around its center while extratropical, or mid-latitude storms are cold core systems since they have cold air rotating from the center. The storm is a very vast one with hurricane force winds extending 70 miles from the center, and tropical storm force winds extending 415 miles from the center.

Located some 365 miles to the North-Northeast of Bermuda, or 810 miles to the Southwest of Cape Race, Newfoundland in the Canadian Maritimes, Florence is moving at a brisk pace to the Northeast at 20 mph. While undergoing its extratropical transition, the system is expected to move across the Atlantic, and be close to Ireland later in the week. Finally, we have another area of disturbed weather in the far reaches of the Eastern Atlantic. Centered near the West Coast of Africa, or about 250 miles to the Southeast of the Cape Verde islands, this disturbance has been getting better organized, and may become a tropical depression over the next day or two.