3:15 PM EDT Storm2k update on Ivan and rest of atlantic

[cycloneye]

Hurricane Ivan continues to move rapidly westward 275 at 18 mph.The eye as I type is passing almost over the island of Grenada.The recon plane this afternoon found a lower pressure and now Ivan is a 120 mph wind hurricane with higher gusts.All indications is that it will grow more stronger as it moves thru the caribbean sea.A fly in the onniment may be an upper low in the central caribbean which may induce some shear to Ivan and weaken it some.However it is moving west so it's effect will not be too great.All interestsin the central and western caribbean sea must pay close attention to the track of Ivan.Down the road the model guidance shows a ridge in the western Gulf of Mexico that may serve as a blocker but it is too soon to tell that kind of effects it will have on the future track of Ivan.Also a trough in the midwest will move eastward and lower the heights to the east creating a weakeness.But again it is a very long range at this point to say for sure where Ivan will go past 3 days so stsy tuned here in storm2k where you will get all the information about the models,recon observations,sat pics and many more information.

Elsewhere in the atlantic:

A large tropical wave located midway between the Cape Verde islands and the lesser antilles is moving west 10-15kts.Slow organization of this area is possible in the next couple of days.

Another area of low pressure is located SW of the Azores islands but upper winds and cooler waters are not favorable for tropical development.

Disclaimer=This product is not official.The official source is the National Hurricane Center.

Forecaster Luis Martinez,(Cycloneye)