June 30, 2023 Outlook: Last call at the June saloon!

One-sentence summary

We will close out June quieter than when it opened in the Atlantic, with no real sign of any meaningful tropical development ahead.

Happening now: Approaching two hurricanes in the Pacific

The Atlantic remains quiet, and it should stay that way through the U.S. holiday Monday and Tuesday.

Eastern Pacific

We continue with an active Pacific basin this morning. Expect to see Adrian begin to diminish over the next day or two as it moves westward out to sea. That said, it really popped overnight with maximum sustained winds of 100 mph and a better looking structure. You can even see the eye today.

Adrian is moving out to sea, while Beatriz is gradually organizing near the coast of Mexico. (Weathernerds.org)

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Beatriz formed yesterday from the depression off Mexico. While Beatriz is not expected to become a particularly strong hurricane, it is rapidly intensifying into one and is likely to deliver impacts to the coast of Mexico.

Tropical Storm Beatriz should become a hurricane later today, and it will pass extremely close to the Mexican coast near Manzanillo. (NOAA NHC)

Hurricane warnings are posted for portions of the coast of Guerrero, Michoacán, Colima, and Jalisco in Mexico. Tropical Storm conditions should feature on either side of that warning band. On the current track, it will pass very close to Manzanillo, and a landfall cannot be ruled out somewhere on the coast near there. In addition to hurricane impacts on the coast of Mexico, rain totals are expected to tally up to several inches Beatriz comes northwest. Maximum totals in excess of 7 or 8 inches are possible, particularly in some of the coastal terrain between Oaxaca and Mazatlán, which could lead to flash flooding and mudslides.

While Beatriz is not a gigantic storm, it is one that should be taken seriously on the coast of Mexico.

The medium-range (days 6-10): Wetting the Gulf

We have two areas of storminess that should develop later next week, but neither looks to be a particularly serious threat to develop. The first will be in the Gulf, where weakening high pressure over Texas will allow for moisture to increase and more frequent showers and storms to develop.

Rainfall totals through Friday of next week will likely increase in the western Gulf and for portions of Texas, Louisiana, and the Southeast as tropical moisture has an opportunity to return for a bit. (Pivotal Weather)

Again, no development is expected, but it’s always a good idea to keep tabs on the Gulf. Meanwhile, the second area continues to come in the far northern Atlantic, where a handful of ensemble members (individual runs of the models that help form a spread of possible outcomes) from the models show some potential development of something, be it extratropical or subtropical in nature. Nothing to worry about, but a curiosity to perhaps look for next week.

Fantasyland (beyond day 10): All’s quiet

As of now, we don’t see anything of note in the Atlantic basin for the day 10 or later period. July will likely do normal July things.

June 29, 2023 Outlook: Atlantic quiet, while the Pacific side wakes up quickly

One-sentence summary

The Atlantic looks to remain mostly quiet, while the Pacific heats up over the next week or so.

Happening now: Dust in the wind

The Atlantic remains under the influence of a good bit of dust. Honestly, this doesn’t look terribly impressive. But it is more than we’ve had for much of the nascent season to date.

Waves of light to moderate dust are going to continue to exit Africa and cross the Atlantic into the Caribbean and/or Gulf over the next 7 to 10 days. This loop runs through next Saturday. (Weather Bell)

Dust will move into the Caribbean into the weekend. It may eventually make it to portions of far South Florida and the Gulf by Monday or Tuesday and then eventually the northern Gulf Coast later next week. Dust should be at its worst in the Caribbean before thinning out as it comes west. Dust will continue to impact most of the Caribbean islands well into next week, with Puerto Rico and Hispaniola really seeing a fair bit in the air. Additional dust may emerge off Africa later next week.

The only Atlantic item of note is this disorganized disturbance near Bermuda with a 10 to 20 percent chance of developing over the next week. (NOAA NHC)

Aside from the dust, the Atlantic remains quiet, with just an area of thunderstorms south of Bermuda that has a very low probability of developing. No significant impacts are currently expected on the island.

Pacific

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Americas, the Pacific is heating up.

Hurricane Adrian strengthened, as expected yesterday. It’s now a category 1 hurricane with 85 mph maximum sustained winds. It is headed out to sea and will not impact land as it weakens in the coming days.

Hurricane Adrian is heading out to sea and will weaken. Tropical Depression 2-E formed overnight, and it will graze the coast of Mexico before likely weakening near Baja. (Weathernerds.org)

Behind Adrian, Tropical Depression Two-E developed late yesterday. It is expected to graze the coast of Mexico as it moves northwest. As a result, tropical storm watches and warnings are in effect for the west coast of Mexico from north of Manzanillo southeast to Punta Maldonado.

Tropical Depression Two-E is expected to become Tropical Storm Beatriz later today, eventually grazing the coast of Mexico as a hurricane this weekend. (NOAA NHC)

The exact center may maneuver some over the coming day or two, which could impact just how close this gets to the coast of Mexico, but it will probably become a strong tropical storm or hurricane as long as it stays over the water. However, it will run out of runway for strengthening by the end of the weekend and should weaken before getting to Cabo.

There may be a third system sometime later next week as well. As you’d expect in an El Niño year, the Pacific should be revving up some.

The medium-range (days 6-10): Nothing of note

All looks quiet for now in the medium range. If there is some place to watch, it would be the Gulf of Mexico, as some tropical moisture may work in there next week. As of now, it seems highly unlikely that anything of note would come of that, but as always, we’ll keep tabs on things.

Fantasyland (beyond day 10): Not much to worry over!

At risk of sounding like a broken record, the longer-range looks quiet right now as well. If we want to dig, I do see some ensemble members doing some funky things in the far north Atlantic, away from any land. Remember, we have operational models, which are single, deterministic model runs, and ensemble models, which are those models tweaked a little bit and run 30 to 50 different times to give us a spread of possible outcomes. The European model just underwent a significant upgrade in the ensemble model resolution that should improve its performance in tropical systems. We’ll be watching that intently this season. Anyway, there are some ensemble members on both the American (GFS) and European models that try to form something between Atlantic Canada and Bermuda late, but other than that, we see nothing of note out there in fantasyland.

More tomorrow!

June 28, 2023 Outlook: Dust and shear flex for now in the Atlantic

One-sentence summary

The Atlantic is beginning to ease into more of a typical, somewhat quieter pattern for now, while the Pacific wakes up from slumber.

Happening now: Yo Adrian!

Not a whole lot to discuss in the Atlantic today, as shear and dust dominate things. Cindy’s remnants are done. We’re now watching a second disturbance east of there that has a very low chance at development. The chances of that have fallen since the weekend though.

We’re not always going to talk about the Pacific, but hey, it’s the first storm of the season for that basin, so let’s take a look at Adrian.

Tropical Storm Adrian will likely form into a hurricane in the Eastern Pacific today. It is no threat to land. (Weathernerds.org)

Adrian has 65 mph winds, and it is in an environment conducive for more intensification. The storm is likely to push west over the next several days, strengthening into a hurricane later today. By later this weekend, it will likely begin to weaken over the open Pacific, as it encounters more wind shear and cooler waters.

Adrian will not only be the Eastern Pacific’s first storm but likely first hurricane of the season. (NOAA)

So, no harm no foul. Behind Adrian, there is a second system that has high odds of developing in the coming days. That would acquire the name Beatriz. It’s been a slow start in the Pacific this season, which is very abnormal for an El Niño year. With the Atlantic calming and the Pacific picking up, this is more of what we’d expect in late June and early July.

The medium-range (days 6-10): Noise but no substance

The medium-range period looks a bit more interesting in that there should be a bit more thunderstorm activity in the Gulf and Caribbean next week. However, that seems unlikely (at this point) to translate into any meaningful development. Wind shear looks to be a bit above average most of next week in the key areas where moisture will begin to pool. So, given that, probably a period where the chance of development is not zero — but it’s fairly close to zero.

Fantasyland (beyond day 10): Nothing of note in the Atlantic

The good news is that we aren’t seeing a whole lot of signal for organization to anything late. The GFS operational model continues periodically throwing a spurious storm our way in the Gulf or Caribbean, but it has been doing that off and on for weeks now. So, we’ll anticipate a quiet period into mid-July for now!

June 27, 2023 Outlook: Cindy’s remnants still struggling with shear

One-sentence summary

Cindy’s remnants will continue to at least have a fighting chance to redevelop into a system east of Bermuda, and it may bring some rain to Atlantic Canada, but other than that, things look quiet.

Happening now: Cindy’s remnants still have a long way to go

The remnants of Tropical Storm Cindy are swirling out over the open Atlantic this morning.

Cindy’s remnants (center of the map) continue to remain very disorganized over the open Atlantic. (Weathernerds.org)

There’s not a lot of organization to this, even though there is plenty of thunderstorm activity. Cindy’s remnants remain under about 30 to 50 knots of wind shear, which really needs to settle back for Cindy to have much chance at regenerating. That may be exactly what happens by tomorrow. There is no guarantee that Cindy will redevelop even if these winds relax, but there’s at least a chance. A fairly notable split exists in the modeling with the European model bringing the potential regenerating Cindy near Bermuda and then direct into Nova Scotia by the weekend. The GFS (American) model takes a more circuitous and much slower route there. In either case, any impacts to Bermuda or Atlantic Canada look relatively modest at worst, with some showers and a breeze. So, a good forecast for folks there to monitor for plans, but probably nothing to get too worked up about.

Aside from Cindy’s remnants, the only thing to watch may be dust, which should arrive in the Caribbean late this week.

Saharan dust looks at least a little more typical right now for June, with one spell of it likely heading to the Caribbean islands this week. (University of Wisconsin)

This will likely tinge the skies over the Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico, and eventually Hispaniola and Cuba into the weekend with dust. This may impact far South Florida or the Gulf Coast as well next week to a lesser extent.

The medium-range (days 6-10): Some showers but probably nothing more

Both our operational models (single-run, deterministic modeling) and our ensemble models (models run multiple times with slight tweaks each time to generate more possible realistic outcomes) are fairly quiet in the medium-range. They do show some showers or maybe a tropical wave moving into the Caribbean next week, but nothing that is expected to develop.

Fantasyland (beyond day 10): Quiet it seems

As of today, I don’t see anything out in the modeling beyond day 10 that concerns me. Certainly, there is no ensemble support for anything of note. Maybe we’re settling into a more typical July for now.