ATL: TROPICAL DEPRESSION CLAUDETTE (04L)

[NEXRAD]

Some 3PM surface observations...

Tyndall AFB Tower - Wind SSE 49mph, G54. Pressure 29.96inHg.
Apalachichola - Wind ESE 23mph, G39. Pressure 30.00inHg.
Keaton Beach - Wind SE 29mph, G33. Pressure 30.14inHg.
Shell Point - Wind SE 30mph, G37. Pressure 30.09inHg.

Seems that tropical storm gusts are spread out as far as Tallahassee with passing bands per additional surface obs.

- Jay

[NEXRAD]

Inland areas of Alabama now under a tropical wind warning? On the radar there are numerous pop ups in Alabama that appear to be moving NNW.......are they part of Claudette?

I suspect the TS wind warning is precautionary and based on the TPC official wind field projections. The scattered convective cells across Southern Alabama and portions of Georgia are diurnally driven typical afternoon showers and storms. They're being enhanced by the moist tropical flow from the south that is rotating around Claudette. Thus, they're not actually part of the storm, but they are being influenced by the storm. Some of the showers/storms might organize into narrow outer bands as the afternoon progresses.

- Jay

[cpdaman]

Some 3PM surface observations...

Tyndall AFB Tower - Wind SSE 49mph, G54. Pressure 29.96inHg.
Apalachichola - Wind ESE 23mph, G39. Pressure 30.00inHg.
Keaton Beach - Wind SE 29mph, G33. Pressure 30.14inHg.
Shell Point - Wind SE 30mph, G37. Pressure 30.09inHg.

Seems that tropical storm gusts are spread out as far as Tallahassee with passing bands per additional surface obs.

- Jay

the AFB tower gust got me attention granted i believe it is elevated about 90-100 feet.

[drezee]

The center is now officially exposed per the visible and is tracking between NW and WNW...

[jinftl]

Must have been a quick squall at Tyndall

Link below to Tyndall shows current winds at 18 mph out of the east, gusting to 26 mph, and a pressure of 29.99"
http://weather.noaa.gov/weather/current/KPAM.html

Some 3PM surface observations...

Tyndall AFB Tower - Wind SSE 49mph, G54. Pressure 29.96inHg.
Apalachichola - Wind ESE 23mph, G39. Pressure 30.00inHg.
Keaton Beach - Wind SE 29mph, G33. Pressure 30.14inHg.
Shell Point - Wind SE 30mph, G37. Pressure 30.09inHg.

Seems that tropical storm gusts are spread out as far as Tallahassee with passing bands per additional surface obs.

- Jay

[Ivanhater]

Definitely a WNW motion of the broad center.

[brunota2003]

These three are going to be the interesting ones to watch...one (Tyndall's tower) off the coast of FL, the other two are right on the coast:

http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=sgof1
http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=shpf1
http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=apcf1

One has sustained winds of 43 knots, the other two right now are in the mid to upper 20's.

[KWT]

Yeah does look like the LLC is starting to become exposed for some reason, its right on the edge of the deep convection at the moment.

[jinftl]

Not seeing any indication of winds that strong being reported onshore....mainly in the 15 to 25 mph range, with gusts into the 30's.....checking real-time stations per wunderground so i will pass along if i see anything start to spike.

These three are going to be the interesting ones to watch...one (Tyndall's tower) off the coast of FL, the other two are right on the coast:

http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=sgof1
http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=shpf1
http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=apcf1

One has sustained winds of 49 knots, the other two right now are in the mid to upper 20's.

[psyclone]

some skinny, linear shower bands are finally going over pensinsular florida. if the cloud canopy can move west these may get fat and giggly with daytime heating but overall there's less convection over the peninsula than a normal summer day.

[brunota2003]

Not seeing any indication of winds that strong being reported onshore....mainly in the 15 to 25 mph range, with gusts into the 30's.....checking real-time stations per wunderground so i will pass along if i see anything start to spike.

These three are going to be the interesting ones to watch...one (Tyndall's tower) off the coast of FL, the other two are right on the coast:

http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=sgof1
http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=shpf1
http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=apcf1

One has sustained winds of 49 knots, the other two right now are in the mid to upper 20's.

The one is actually 43 knots (typo) and it is offshore. The other two are right on the edge of the coast and have reported winds as high as 28 knots within the past couple hours (probably in squalls).

[drezee]

I beleive it has no choice but to turn NW. A surface trough is clear on the surface reports SW of the big bend (you can tell by the SE winds offshore W of due North of the center). Typically a small system like this will follow such a trough up to the coast. If this is the case, it will be closer to Panama City than Tallahasee, IMO. This is basically the same thing Humberto did last year...(not the same result though). Using Wxman57's GARP, I would say passes N of the trough axis as show, but it has a chance to stay over the water as the trough is over the water...

watching systems like this over the years seems to be paying off...heading right along the trough...

[NEXRAD]

Must have been a quick squall at Tyndall

Link below to Tyndall shows current winds at 18 mph out of the east, gusting to 26 mph, and a pressure of 29.99"
http://weather.noaa.gov/weather/current/KPAM.html

Some 3PM surface observations...

Tyndall AFB Tower - Wind SSE 49mph, G54. Pressure 29.96inHg.
Apalachichola - Wind ESE 23mph, G39. Pressure 30.00inHg.
Keaton Beach - Wind SE 29mph, G33. Pressure 30.14inHg.
Shell Point - Wind SE 30mph, G37. Pressure 30.09inHg.

Seems that tropical storm gusts are spread out as far as Tallahassee with passing bands per additional surface obs.

- Jay

It's actually the offshore tower with an anemometer height of 35m.

http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=sgof1

Explains why the winds are higher than surrounding obs, but with the strong convection forming about Claudette's center, such winds could readily be transported to the surface.

- Jay

[tropicwatch]

Radar presentation of the center starting to look a lot better now.

Tropicwatch

[SunnyThoughts]

[CrazyC83]

Looks to be over half of an eyewall there. If only the Recon computer was back up...at 5 we will find out what happened. I'd guess 55 kt based on trends and the look.

[NEXRAD]

Could Claudette reach hurricane strength? ... It's a possibility given the present radar imagery. I'm noticing the near-center velocities creeping up, too, though that might be an artifact of better radar sampling as the storm nears the coast. Looking through different radar elevation scans, Claudette's circulation is starting to look more stacked than it was earlier today.

- Jay

[KWT]

Wow yep the presentation of the center is really starting to look much better.
Could make it to hurricane strength afterall...

[The Eye Wall]

The fact that this storm is so lopsided, a bit of dry air on the western semi and proximity to land will make it difficult to obtain hurricane strength. Not out of the question, but will be tough, IMO.

[wxman57]

Recon gets to the center then nothing for 2+ hours? What gives?