Sunday, July 20, 2008

Dolly Forms in Western Caribbean

Late this Sunday morning, Tropical Storm Dolly has formed in the western Caribbean Sea, approximately 230 miles to the southeast of Cozumel, Mexico. You can see this storm from the visible satellite perspective this morning. Hurricane Hunters were able to identify a closed low pressure center at the surface, allowing this wave to be upgraded to tropical storm force strength.


There are currently numerous Tropical Storm Warnings all up and down the eastern side of the Yucatan channel. Additional warnings will be posted as the system continues to get better organized.

This is the official forecast track from the National Hurricane Center. Do you remember us showing you the different computer model tracks from the past few days on our newscasts? If so, this matches up fairly well now that the system has strengthened into Tropical Storm Dolly. Right now, Dolly is expected to move over the Yucatan Peninsula on Monday, bringing some heavy rain, gusty winds, and possible mudslides. Depending on how long it stays over land will determine how much it weakens.

For us locally, we will be interested to see what happens when Dolly gets into the western Gulf of Mexico. Sea surface temperatures are plenty warm, and conditions are favorable for Dolly to strengthen once it re-emerges. This will be something to follow as it could have an impact on the Texas coast, and more importantly, our local weather by the middle part of the week. We will have more Blog updates daily on Dolly and make sure to check in once or twice a day for your latest forecast.