Granted, Ivan has been an impressive storm. But he does have his faults.
To begin with, he has had this persistent blob of energy on his southwest quadrant--for about as long as he has been a major hurricane--and he doesn't seem to want to wrap it into himself. At first I thought it might be because of his southern latitude, but the blob has persisted, and, at times, it has even looked worse as he has traveled north. I don't really understand what it is or why he can't wrap it into himself, especially given how strong he is.
Second, he wound himself up very tight and had no eye to speak of, yet didn't go through an eye wall recycling phase as early as I thought he would. I'm a little puzzled by that too, and he continues to seem like he is struggling to form a new eye.
Third, I'm not all that impressed with his outflow. For as powerful a storm as he is, I thought we'd see more impressive outflow--especially given the favorable conditions he is in.
So he's an impressive storm, but he does, in my opinion, have his faults. I'm not suggesting he's going to dry up and blow away, by any means. But the most extreme storms--and extreme is exactly what he seems to want to be--have to have ideal conditions in order to sustain their intensity. Even minor flaws can inhibit a storm's development beyond a certain point, so I'm curious as to how this will all play out.
Does anybody else see some of these things and believe he will have to resolve them if he plans on retaining high intensity?
