Update: Kirk is no longer a Tropical Depression and advisories have been discontinued, leaving us with zero storms worth talking about.
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It’s still hurricane season.
Sounds like a simple enough statement but as a season that runs for almost half of the year it does bare repeating at times. It’s hard to stay vigilant for so long, but those of us who have spent a lifetime along the Gulf Coast know that it can go from afterthought to the only talking point real quick. That was the case a few weeks ago when all of a sudden the Atlantic produced four different named storms, including the devastating Hurricane Florence. After that it was almost like a switch had been flipped to “off” and outside of Florence the tropics became an afterthought once again.
So since it’s the start of a new work week let’s go through a quick roundup of tropics related news, even though there is currently nothing worth worrying about here in Louisiana. Until we get into October, however, when the season begins to wind down we should keep an eye on it and just make a mental not that it’s still mid season. Luckily nothing out there currently looks problematic for the Gulf of Mexico.
The most notable storm out in the Atlantic is Tropical Depression Kirk, which is believed to intensify to a tropical storm this week. At first glance the track is one that can raise eyebrows for Gulf Coast residents, but just looking at a track with no context can get you in trouble. If we look ahead beyond the time frame of the cone then there is no model support for a run into the Gulf. Instead there seems to be agreement that Kirk will eventually fizzle into a wave and send a lot of moisture into Central America. In fact there hasn’t been a single outlook that would bring Kirk into the Gulf of Mexico as any kind of feature. Weird things can happen in the Caribbean when you get into September, but until we start seeing those weird things taking shape Kirk doesn’t seem to be worth worrying about.
This is Leslie, it is a tiny storm with a short lifespan. Unless you are a Captain of a freight ship crossing the Atlantic you will never have to think of Leslie again.
