Hurricane Sam: 28 September, Update A

Don't you think that some days are astounding, time is fleeting and with a bit of a mind flip, you're into the time slip? It's only been about a week since I last checked in with Tropical Storms Peter and Rose (they didn't do much). But what a time warp these few days turned out to be - Peter and Rose seem like a month ago! In the last few days very weak Subtropical Storm Teresa popped up and promptly ran away after 24 hours (also didn't do much), and now we have major Hurricane Sam and the future Victor and Wanda on the eastern Atlantic horizon. 

Hurricane Sam is a major mid-sized cat 4 storm with winds of 140mph, central pressure of 944mb (cat 4 range: 130-156mph). He is currently at 18.4N, 55.6W, heading NW at 9mph. Fortunately, he is going to stay away from land, passing closest to Bermuda on Friday night, but avoiding the island... 

He was big, but although there is still circulation (vorticity) throughout the troposphere, he looks a little weaker at the moment because of dry air in the mid-levels of the atmosphere. The eye is certainly not as clear as it should be for a cat 4 storm: 

And for a close up... 

I would put him as a cat 3 for now really, but he has time and room to intensify again to cat 4 storm in the next day or so because waters are warm and there is little wind shear. 

The major effects will be in the waves and surf reaching the Caribbean, but also Bermuda and perhaps even the US East coast. Perfect for all of you surfers out there! 

He's been a major storm (cat 3 or higher) since Saturday (it's now Tuesday here) - oscillating between a cat 3 (range: 111-129mph) and a cat 4. In case you need a reminder of what that looks like...

That's all for today, but I'm back and will be back (with Victor to talk about tomorrow too I suspect)! :-)

Ciao for now,

J.

Blogs archived at http://jyotikastorms.blogspot.com/

Twitter @JyovianStorm

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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 local weather service announcements. This is not an official forecast. If I "run away, run away" (Monty Python), I'll let you know.