The wrath of Hurricane Michael across the eastern United States is complete; after a catastrophic landfall to the Florida Panhandle on Wednesday followed by flooding rains yesterday as a tropical storm, Michael’s remnants have pushed off the northeast coast and the system is no longer classified as a tropical cyclone. While Michael is a storm of the past, meteorologists continue to track Hurricane Leslie and Tropical Storm Nadine in the distant Atlantic.
While no storm is threatening the U.S., eyes are on long-lasting Hurricane Leslie which has spun about in the open waters of the Atlantic for weeks. Leslie appears to finally be tracking off to the east after looping around in the Atlantic, approaching Madeira Island and heading towards the Iberian Peninsula. A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for Madeira Island and the National Hurricane Center in the U.S. cautions interests in Portugal and Spain to monitor the future track of Leslie.
In the latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center, the center of Hurricane Leslie was located near latitude 33.0 North, longitude 28.0 West. Leslie is moving toward the east-northeast near 32 mph. A fast east-northeastward motion is expected to continue through Saturday morning, followed by a slower eastward motion late Saturday through Monday. On the forecast track, the center of Leslie will pass north of Madeira Island on Saturday, and approach the southwestern portion of the Iberian Peninsula on Sunday, and move inland over portions of the Iberian Peninsula late Sunday.
Maximum sustained winds are near 85 mph with higher gusts. Some weakening is forecast during the next day or so, but Leslie is expected to transition into a powerful post-tropical cyclone by Saturday night or early Sunday. Additional weakening is forecast on Sunday, with Leslie expected to dissipate by Monday after it moves inland. Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 70 miles, mainly to the south of the center. Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 230 miles. The estimated minimum central pressure is 971 mb or 28.68″.
While Leslie heads to Europe, Nadine is expected to dissipate over the central Atlantic. In the latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center, the center of Tropical Storm Nadine was located near latitude 16.0 North, longitude 36.2 West. Nadine is moving toward the west-northwest near 8 mph. A west-northwestward to westward motion with an increase in forward speed is expected through the weekend. Maximum sustained winds have decreased to near 45 mph with higher gusts. Weakening is forecast by the National Hurricane Center during the next couple of days, and Nadine is expected to dissipate by Sunday. For now, tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 70 miles from the center. The estimated minimum central pressure is 1004 mb or 29.65 inches.
Meteorologists are also keeping an eye on a disturbance near Central America. A broad area of low pressure could form over the west-central Caribbean Sea in a day or two and then move slowly westward toward Central America through early next week. While a low could form here, tropical cyclone development of this system is no longer anticipated by the National Hurricane Center.
