Weekend ahead still looking good plus a peek at the tropics
The weak cold front approaching the ‘Burg from the west will push through with little fanfare later today before it washes out near the Chesapeake Bay, bringing only some clouds and a few degrees temperature drop for Saturday and Sunday. Thus the weekend will be a very nice September bonus…but early next week will be wet as a stronger front nears and a low pressure system develops over the southeastern U.S. Right now the HPC shows rainfall totals for the I-95 corridor to be near the one inch mark for the period Monday – Wednesday morning, with up to two inches over western Virginia.
The tropical Atlantic is rather benign at the moment which is unusual for what is typically the peak of the hurricane season. Tropical Storm Nadine is wandering around out in mid-ocean and will likely strengthen to a hurricane before it nears the Cape Verde islands off the African coast. Meanwhile, a very significant tropical cyclone is threatening the island of Okinawa in the western Pacific. Super Typhoon Sanba (and yes, that is an official designation) is a powerful system that is making a lot of folks out that way very nervous:
I have seen Sanba forecasts for 150 knot (>170 mph) sustained winds with gusts up to 165 knots, which for us here in the eastern U.S. corresponds to a catastrophic Category 5 hurricane. Having lived in Okinawa many years ago I am holding my breath and keeping those folks in heart and mind as Sanba churns toward them.
