Hanna and Her Siblings Roil the Atlantic

Although Gustav is slowly blowing itself out over Oklahoma, Miami’s National Hurricane Center still has a lot of work to do. Its currently tracking a hurricane, a tropical storm, a tropical depression and two disturbances, lined up across the Atlantic like airplanes ready for take off.

The nearest to the U.S. is Hurricane Hanna, currently a Category 1 storm, located about 400 miles (645 kms) southeast of Nassau. The NHC said a “hurricane warning remains in effect for the Central Bahamas, the Southeastern Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands.”

The storm is moving “south-southwestward at 8 mph [13 km/hr],” the bulletin continued, “a gradual decrease in forward speed is expected later today, possibly accompanied by a looping motion. By Wednesday, a slow northwestward motion toward the central Bahamas is expected. Maximum sustained winds are near 80 mph (130 km/hr) with higher gusts.”

Fortunately Hanna is on a more northerly track than Gustav, and the NHC forecasts “little change in strength” during the next 24 hours. On its current course Hanna could come ashore anywhere between northern Florida and the Carolina’s by Saturday.

The NHC is also tracking Tropical Storm Ike, which is currently out in the Atlantic around 1235 miles (1985 kms) east of the Leeward Islands. Maximum sustained winds are already 50 mph (85 km/hr) with higher gusts. In between those two storms is a low pressure area, which the NHC said has little potential for further development.

However, it is also tracking Tropical depression 10, currently located south of the Cape Verde Islands. The area has frequently seen the formation of some of the most powerful hurricanes.

Source: National Hurricane Center – http://www.nhc.noaa.gov