Ana, Bill, and Claudette. Oh My.

It’s how these things go. Ana, the first named tropical storm of this season, has been downgraded to a tropical depression. Bill is now a hurricane. Claudette, which just kind of popped up, is a storm and has already made landfall in the panhandle.

Let’s start with Claudette:

AT 400 AM CDT…0900 UTC…THE TROPICAL STORM WARNING HAS BEEN
DISCONTINUED EAST OF INDIAN PASS FLORIDA AND WEST OF DESTIN
FLORIDA. A TROPICAL STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM DESTIN
EASTWARD TO INDIAN PASS. THIS WARNING WILL LIKELY BE DISCONTINUED
LATER THIS MORNING.

[...]

AT 400 AM CDT…0900 UTC…THE CENTER OF TROPICAL STORM CLAUDETTE
WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 30.9 NORTH…LONGITUDE 87.0 WEST OR ABOUT
15 MILES…25 KM…SOUTH-SOUTHEAST OF BREWTON ALABAMA AND ABOUT 40
MILES…65 KM…NORTHWEST OF FORT WALTON BEACH FLORIDA.

Ana, the first to form, is the one of the three projected to impact central Florida weather most directly. The current forecast track has the remains of the low to be just off shore around Tampa Bay by Friday.

Bill is the strongest of the three, but NOAA models have it turning to the north before it reaches Florida.

AT 500 AM AST…0900 UTC…THE CENTER OF HURRICANE BILL WAS LOCATED
NEAR LATITUDE 13.8 NORTH…LONGITUDE 44.0 WEST OR ABOUT 1160 MILES
…1870 KM…EAST OF THE LESSER ANTILLES.

BILL IS MOVING QUICKLY TOWARD THE WEST-NORTHWEST NEAR 22 MPH…35
KM/HR…AND THIS GENERAL MOTION IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE FOR THE
NEXT 24 TO 48 HOURS.

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS HAVE INCREASED TO NEAR 75 MPH…120 KM/HR.
STRENGTHENING IS FORECAST DURING THE NEXT DAY OR TWO…AND BILL
COULD BECOME A MAJOR HURRICANE BY WEDNESDAY.

Of course, as with any tropical system, the projected path can change. Keep an eye on all of them. I will be.

Tweet