at 3:15 PM by Pierce Larkin

The Week in Tropical Weather

I have come to the conclusion that I post way too much about the tropics. I am no expert in tropical meteorology, I wouldn’t even call myself an amateur. Tropical Meteorology is a much different animal than mid-latitude meteorology, and as such, it is difficult for me to apply my knowledge of mid-latitude meteorology to tropical meteorology. However, in light of that, I will be establishing a weekly post about the Tropics. Whether is be the eastern Pacific or the Atlantic or the western Pacific, the Tropics are fairly active around this time of the year. So, without further ado, I give you the first installment of: The Week in Tropical Weather.

Last week was pretty much a, “zone out” week for me, as I was on vacation with my family. However, I did keep up with the tropical Atlantic to the best of my ability, and it finally produced something.

h/t giphy.com
h/t giphy.com

On Tuesday, the fifth tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane season formed in the central Caribbean. Its name was Earl, and it formed within a favorable environment for strengthening.

Water temperatures beneath it were in the mid 80s, which is plenty high enough for strengthening. Earl organized quickly, and with little shear in the atmosphere and water water temps, it strengthened into the first hurricane in the Atlantic all season.

Earl made landfall early on Thursday, August 4th as an 80 mph, Category 1 hurricane.

Hurricane Earl making landfall on early Thursday morning. h/t NOAA
Hurricane Earl making landfall on early Thursday morning. h/t NOAA

It weakened from there, but reemerged in the Gulf of Mexico, and became a strong tropical storm again. Earl didn’t wanna go away, and became fairly organized again before making landfall on the Mexican coastline along the Bay of Campeche.

This was the first storm to form in the Tropical Atlantic in several weeks, but was pretty awesome to watch develop. Thankfully, Hurricane Earl wasn’t too strong, so damage was limited.