Hurricane Paloma: November 8 Update B

Paloma made landfall in southern Cuba a short while ago (between 6-6.20pm
EST) as a strong cat 3 storm with estimated winds of 125 mph (cat 3:
111-130 mph). She did begin to deteriorate as she appraoched Cuba and the
eye collapsed well before landfall - a combination of wind shear and land
interaction. That wind value may be a bit of an overestimate - seems
strong for a storm with no eye at all, but she's still a strong storm. She
also picked up speed earlier, and is now moving at about 10mph in a NE
direction - so she will have crossed Cuba by tomorrow afternoon.

Cuba and the wind shear will take its toll, and she should be a TS or weak
cat 1 when she emerges tomorrow. Wind shear is now over 35-46 mph, and
will continue to increase tomorrow. Water temperatures north of Cuba (in
the Bahamas region) are 26-28 deg C, but only the upper 50m (at the most)
have waters warmer than 26 deg C, so there is less for the storm to draw
upon.

That's it for today folks.
Ciao,
J.

Blogs archived at: http://www.jyotikastorms.blogspot.com/
-------------------------------
DISCLAIMER: These remarks are just what I think/see regarding tropical
storms - not the opinion of any organization I represent. If you are
making an evacuation decision, please heed your local emergency management
and the National Hurricane Center's official forecast and the National
Weather Service announcements. This is not an official forecast. If I "run
away, run away" (Monty Python), I'll let you know.
-------------------------------------------