Good evening again everyone. Things got quite busy in the Tropical Atlantic within just the past few days. Talk about rapid development, how about the fact that Humberto was a mere tropical depression on Wednesday morning, and within 24 hours, it was making landfall as a strong Category One Hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale with 85 mile per hour winds, 105 mile per hour gusts, and a minimum central pressure of 29.12 inches of Hg. Now, Humberto has weakened to a depression near Alexandria, Louisiana, and is expected to bring plenty of rain to Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.

Meanwhile, Tropical Depression Eight has appeared to have hit a wall in terms of its progress. On Wednesday, TD #8 appeared to be well on its way to becoming the next storm in 2007. It formed before, the depression that eventually became Hurricane Humberto developed in the Western Gulf. Well out in the Central Atlantic where conditions are usually at there optimal this time of year, TD #8 emerged on Wednesday morning in virtually the same area that Dean and Felix developed within the past month. However, upper level conditions have now become unfavorable for development, and that has not only hampered chances for intensification, but also slowed the storm down. It is as if the system has moved through a mound of molasses in the Central Atlantic.

There is a possibility that the depression could become a storm within the next 12 to 24 hours. The latest discussion from the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida states that TD #8 is forecast to strengthen to storm status within the next 12 to 24 hours, and actually reach 40 knot, or 45 mile per hour winds within 48 to 72 hours. After that, the system is anticipated to weaken. If the storm does strengthen to become another named storm, the ninth of the season, will be named Ingrid. Beyond that, there are some other waves to worry about in the Atlantic. After talking to Barometer Bob of Hurricane Hollow on the phone on Wednesday night, I took a look at the satellite imagery of the Tropical Atlantic, and Africa.

Returning back to our former hurricane, Humberto, did you know that the third hurricane of the 2007 Atlantic season is the first to make landfall in the United States since Hurricane Wilma hit the Florida Keys and South Florida back in October 2005? Well, it is true. If you recall last season, there were only several storms that threatened the U.S. coastline with Hurricane Ernesto making landfall in the Upper Florida Keys and Southern Florida and later on along the North Carolina coast as a Tropical Storm. No hurricanes or major hurricanes threatened in 2006, which was a season that had only 10 named storms (corrected after review of season by NHC determined an unnamed storm formed), five hurricanes, and two major hurricanes. In addition to that fact, Humberto went from a Tropical Depression to a strong Category One Hurricane in just 14 hours.