Ah fuck.

[graywarrior]

Tropical Storm Gabrielle flirted with landfall in North Carolina then fell apart to become a harmless tropical depression today, speeding off to a cold death in the North Atlantic.

But replacing this non-concern are three threatening tropical swirls -- two aimed in the general direction of Florda.

Right now, all are deemed "investgation" areas.

And of the three, it's the one farthest out that poses the largest threat. This system, No. 1 on the satellite image above, is under favorable conditions for development, and is expected to acquire a name in a day or two. It is moving generally west-northwest and that direction is likewise expected to continue.

But forecasters warn that a large non-tropical low pressure system far to its north will pull the developing storm more northerly. There it will encounter a brick wall of high pressure and again turn westward.

At that time, it might be just north of the Lesser Antilles, tracking a path known to Floridians as Hurricane Alley. Category 4 Donna came up the alley 47 years ago today to hit Fort Myers a devastating blow. Andrew also came up the alley before striking Homestead as a Category 5 hurricane.

The system labelled "2" here is not well organized, but models project it to head toward Florida's east coast this week. Rain, of course, would be welcome. Lake Okeechobee remains in serious drought condition.

The low pressure system labelled "3" sprang up almost overnight in the Gulf of Mexico and brought strong southerly winds to this area along with last evening's thunderstorms. This system, only a few hundred miles away from us, is moving toward Texas and is not expected to develop into a named storm.