#2126 Postby Shell Mound » Wed Oct 18, 2017 12:04 pm
Another key, in my view, is that global (dynamical) models often struggle to resolve just where convection concentrates along the ITCZ. This is far from the first case where continental and basin influences complicated forecasts, obscuring whether the eastern tropical Pacific or the Caribbean would win. The Pacific is a larger source of oceanic heat content than the southern Caribbean, but South and Central America also exert influence on convective patterns. Additionally, monsoonal gyrations are always difficult to resolve as far as placement of features and consolidation are concerned, though the ECMWF in particular is the most adept at resolving overall convective schema. After all, we are still in the long range; potential development, if any, is still a week or more away. Indicators have consistently highlighted 24 October as the earliest possible date for something to begin consolidating, whether in the eastern tropical Pacific or the southern Caribbean Sea. My climatology-based guess is that the Caribbean is most likely to feature development, given that the EPS and GEFS means, along with the weekly CFSv2, puts the monsoonal circulation over or just east of Central America. The overall position of the large-scale feature seems to tip the scale toward the Caribbean instead of the Pacific, though global models obviously struggle to determine where individual vorticity maxima may develop within the broad pattern, hence the confusion. The trend toward a negative NAO, positive PNA, and strong Scandinavian blocking in late October would tend to focus lifting mechanisms over the Caribbean, as low-level convergence would strengthen in that area, given a deepening trough over the East Coast and building subtropical ridging over the Caribbean. This pattern would also seem conducive to a general northward and northeasterly track of whatever forms over the Caribbean, i.e., toward the Antilles, Bahamas, and to eastward of Florida and the United States. Michelle (2001) is not a bad analog in terms of track, though at this stage intensity and location have yet to be pinpointed. But the prospects for development of some sort look good, with odds leaning toward the southern Caribbean.
One worrying sign: both the EPS and GEFS, including the operational runs, have suggested that conditions should be conducive to development. Note that the operational ECMWF has been quickly developing several lows over the southern Caribbean and eastern tropical Pacific; though the eastern-Pacific lows become dominant, the key is that they deepen fairly quickly. Within a matter of a few days it spins up several well-defined vorticity maxima. The weekly CFSv2 also indicates building upper-level anticyclonic flow over and just east of Central America, which is consistent with the influence of the MJO on and after 24 October. Thus, the signs are that whatever develops could find an ideal combination of high moisture (PWAT), low vertical wind shear, and still-high oceanic heat content, allowing it to consolidate and deepen steadily. This means that a late-season threat could well become serious, if it manages to develop. With La Niña and climatology in force, I think that the odds of a (strong) hurricane may begin to rise substantially over the next few days, as models begin to resolve the Caribbean as the likely focus of development.
Last edited by
Shell Mound on Wed Oct 18, 2017 12:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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