Isaac Grows Into Bigger Problem Than Originally Thought

Note: I have finished working on editing the four articles that I have written on two of the recent storms this season: Ernesto and Florence, and two storms from the past: Bertha and Fran. I will try to get these posted on the site very soon.

Like I said on the home page, a lot has transpired since I last updated the site on Thursday afternoon. Unfortunately, a couple of things got into the way of me being able to keep things updated here. One, of course, was that I worked Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights, and slept most of the daytime on both Friday and Saturday. The other reason was a problem that developed on my other site, GMC Hoops, that I had to act on as quickly as I could.

Consequently, I wasn’t able to update the site until late Sunday afternoon although I had been following some of what was going on with Isaac through television and the web. I have to admit that I was quite surprised by the fact that this storm was able to blossom into a hurricane. Its close proximity to a front and its feeble state early on made it seem to me that this storm was going to have a tough time to say the least.

However, this latest storm showed some true resiliency, and fortitude by battling through a hostile environment in the Atlantic with trough after trough leaving the East Coast of the United States. In addition, the storm has gotten itself in a position, where it is no longer a threat to the fish and ships as I originally posted, but also to portions of the Canadian Maritimes.

Keep in mind that earlier this summer, researchers had discovered that sea surface temperatures off of the Canadian Maritimes had been running above normal this year. So, Isaac could very well menace Newfoundland as a hurricane. Regardless, a tropical storm watch is in effect for the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland including the cities of Cape Race and St. John’s. According to the latest forecast track analysis from the NHC, it appears that Isaac could brush the eastern portion of Newfoundland within the next 24 to 36 hours.

It has been quite an active six weeks in the Tropical Atlantic. As I mentioned in my last article on Isaac, there had been six named storms to form in the Atlantic since August 20th. Of those six, five have gone on to become hurricanes. So far in 2006, we have seen nine named storms, five hurricanes, and two major hurricanes, which is on par for an average year. In addition, these numbers have surpassed levels attained during the 1997 season, where there was a total of nine depressions, eight storms, three hurricanes, and one major hurricane. Every depression that has emerged in 2006 has gone on to become at least a tropical storm.