Hey, those of you who watch the weather all the time, is it normal

[hedgehog]

for hurricanes to pop up right in the Gulf and hit land two days later?

[whistle]

1. Good question, what are you thinking

[hedgehog]

3. I always thought that hurricanes started out in the ocean near Africa and could be tracked

on the way in for about 2 weeks as they organized and gained strength. I think Edouard is the second Tropical storm/hurricane to start as a low pressure system in the Gulf this season.

[Selatius]

6. They can develop anywhere in the Gulf, Caribbean, or the Atlantic near the equator.

Katrina developed off the east coast of Florida and struck Florida as a weak tropical storm or depression if I recall. I left the Miss. coast the week Katrina developed and went to Orlando to work for Disney. When it struck Florida, it was nothing. It was only after it touched the Gulf of Mexico that it became the legend we all know, and it coincidentally devastated the Mississippi coast that I know after meeting me in Florida.

Regardless if I went to Florida or not, Katrina was coming to me.

[malaise]

7. Most of the early hurricanes (late June - early August) form

in the Northern Caribbean/Central American area. Lots of rain around right now and all it takes is some spin and the right conditions for development. Watch those oil rigs in the coming days.

http://www.weather.com/maps/news/atlstorm1/caribbeansatellite_large.html?from=hurricane_welcome

Here's a nice hurricane history
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/HAW2/english/history.shtml

[Redstone]

2. Yes. Anytime the water is warm enough.

Redstone

[Selatius]

4. Katrina, Rita, and Wilma all demonstrate that it's possible if the water is warm enough.

The more carbon dioxide we pump into the atmosphere, the more heat gets trapped in earth's biosphere, and hurricanes feed on warm oceans. They're basically no different than gigantic heat pumps.

[BalancedGoat]

8. None of those storms formed in the Gulf.

Wilma started as a large area of disturbed weather in the caribean sea and gradually organized southeast of jamaica. The tropical depression that became Rita formed east of the Turks and Caicos. Tropical Depression 12, which formed Katrina, formed over the southeastern Bahamas; though, tropical depression 12 was actually formed partially from the remnents of tropical depression 10 which formed 1100 miles east of the Lesser Antilles.

[Selatius]

9. True, but I was trying to say that it's possible for development in the Gulf.

Katrina, Rita, and Wilma all passed through the Gulf of Mexico and became what they became because of how warm the Gulf was that year. I would only qualify Wilma though by saying it was undergoing some slight sheer retarding its growth after it slammed the Yucatan but was a category 3 by the time it went into Florida.

[Skittles]

5. I think temps being over 100 degrees on land help speed up the process

:o

[NeedleCast]

10. It's Not Unusual

The most common hurricanes start as tropical waves coming off the west coast of Africa. However, the type the type that pops up in the gulf is not terribly uncommon. Little unstable atmosphere and warm water is really all you need. There are many other factors that go into it...high pressure systems, steering ridges in the upper atmosphere, dry vs wet air, wind sheer, etc. If you're interested in learning more, check out this blog:

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=1007&tstamp=200808