Good afternoon everyone. Hurricaneville continues to monitor things throughout the tropics. Not only Hurricane Fred in the Eastern Atlantic, and our coastal low along the Mid-Atlantic, but also Tropical Storm Linda in the Eastern Pacific. Unlike Fred, Linda has still yet to become a hurricane. Winds have increased a bit though to 65 miles per hour after being at 60 miles per hour since late Monday night.
According to the 8:00 AM PDT Advisory from the National Hurricane Center, Linda is centered approximately 1300 miles to the West-Southwest of the Southernmost tip of Baja California. It is moving toward the Northwest at 8 miles per hour. In addition to its maximum sustained winds increasing to 65 miles per hour, gusts have grown to hurricane force at 75 miles per hour. Minimum central pressure is down to 994 millibars, or 29.35 inches of Hg (Mercury). Tropical storm force winds extend some 70 miles from the center of circulation.
Looking at the latest satellite imagery courtesy of the Weather Channel, there is a nice ball of deep convection along with good outflow, but the storm lacks some symmetry. In the latest forecast discussion on the storm from the NHC, there has been little change in terms of the overall cloud structure. However, it goes on to state that Linda still has a chance to get stronger.
There is still a good 12 to 24 hour window for further development with Linda before it moves into much cooler waters and encounter greater shear at the upper levels. The intensity forecast calls for Linda to reach 60 knots by 12 hours before beginning a gradual weakening trend. Looking at the intensity models, the GFDL is in agreement with the official projection while the SHIPS has the storm staying at 60 knots longer while the HWRF and SHIPS ensemble are calling for Linda to be a hurricane in 24 hours.
The official forecast track has the storm continuing to head Northwestward over the next several days with an increase in forward speed. Most of the models are in agreement with this assessment. Like Fred, this storm appears to be one for the fish although the LBAR indicates a turn to the Northeast with time, and approach the Northern portion of the Baja. However, it should be much weaker by that point with winds down to just 20 knots by 120 hours.
