Scattered showers and storms continue across Central Alabama this afternoon. The heavier activity is now mainly west of I-65.
Heavy showers in western Jefferson County. Jared Trussell in Hueytown and John in Concord report heavy rain. Jared has one half inch as of 3:35. NOTE: Jared reported a later number of 0.80 and John 0.42 inches. Bully for them!
Other notable showers and storms were…
…near Cottondale along I-59 in Tuscaloosa County
…over southern Lamar, Fayette and northwestern Tuscaloosa County…
…a weakening storm southeast of Wilton…
…a struggling shower along I-20 between Lincoln and Oxford.
FELIX NOW CATEGORY FOUR HURRICANE…
Forecast thinking unchanged. But four and five day forecast is not poured in concrete (actually they never are) and lots of uncertainty about whether it makes more of a right turn into the Gulf.
The NHC notes that the hurricane has deepened at a rate of 3.4 mb/hour over the past seven hours.
Hurricane Wilma in the Caribbean in October 2005 shattered all Atlantic records for deepening. The monster hurricane dropped from 954 mb to 901 in a little over five hours. This computed to an astounding 9.9 mb/hour deepening. Wilma recorded 6, 12 and 24 hour drops of 54, 88 and 97 millibars respectively for those time periods.
Look for more rapid intensification next 24 hours. Felix is poised to go over a “warm eddy” or pool of warmer water, in about 12 hours. So look out.
Here is the 4 p.m. advisory on now Category Four Hurricane Felix…
BULLETIN
HURRICANE FELIX ADVISORY NUMBER 9
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL062007
500 PM EDT SUN SEP 02 2007
…FELIX CONTINUES TO STRENGTHEN…NOW A CATEGORY FOUR HURRICANE…
A TROPICAL STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR JAMAICA AND FOR GRAND
CAYMAN. A TROPICAL STORM WATCH MEANS THAT TROPICAL STORM
CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE WITHIN THE WATCH AREA…GENERALLY WITHIN 36
HOURS.
INTERESTS ELSEWHERE IN THE CENTRAL AND WESTERN CARIBBEAN SEA SHOULD
CLOSELY MONITOR THE PROGRESS OF THIS SYSTEM.
FOR STORM INFORMATION SPECIFIC TO YOUR AREA…INCLUDING POSSIBLE
INLAND WATCHES AND WARNINGS…PLEASE MONITOR PRODUCTS ISSUED
BY YOUR LOCAL WEATHER OFFICE.
AT 500 PM EDT…2100Z…THE CENTER OF HURRICANE FELIX WAS LOCATED
NEAR LATITUDE 13.6 NORTH…LONGITUDE 72.0 WEST OR ABOUT 440 MILES…
710 KM…SOUTHEAST OF KINGSTON JAMAICA.
FELIX IS MOVING TOWARD THE WEST-NORTHWEST NEAR 20 MPH…32 KM/HR…
AND THIS GENERAL MOTION IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT 24
HOURS.
REPORTS FROM AN AIR FORCE HURRICANE HUNTER PLANE INDICATE THAT THE
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS HAVE INCREASED TO NEAR 140 MPH…220
KM/HR…WITH HIGHER GUSTS. FELIX IS A CATEGORY FOUR HURRICANE ON
THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON SCALE. ADDITIONAL STRENGTHENING IS FORECAST
DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS.
HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 25 MILES…35 KM…FROM
THE CENTER…AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 115
MILES…185 KM.
THE MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE ESTIMATED FROM THE AIRCRAFT DATA IS 956
MB…28.23 INCHES.
FELIX IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE TOTAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 2 TO 4 INCHES
OVER THE GUAJIRA PENINSULA OF NORTHERN COLOMBIA.
REPEATING THE 500 PM EDT POSITION…13.6 N…72.0 W. MOVEMENT
TOWARD…WEST-NORTHWEST NEAR 20 MPH. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS…140
MPH. MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE…956 MB.
AN INTERMEDIATE ADVISORY WILL BE ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL HURRICANE
CENTER AT 800 PM EDT FOLLOWED BY THE NEXT COMPLETE ADVISORY AT 1100
PM EDT.
$$
FORECASTER PASCH
