This guy has mean written all over him.. pinballing in strength, and looks to be making reservations in the Gulf of Mexico for an extended stay...
rizolltizide said:Please, two storms in a couple of weeks is enough for anyone. I've got a bad feeling in my stomach about this one. I only got about 4 hrs. of sleep Sat. and Sun. nights as it was. I don't wish these things on anyone but Florida is set for a while on the receiving end.
There were some indications from microwave data and now confirmed with the plane that Ivan has a double eyewall structure. This may explain the recent slight weakening.
As mentioned in the previous discussion...there is high confidence in this portion of the forecast because the hurricane will be steered by the flow
surrounding a well-established subtropical ridge. All models are highly clustered during this period...bringing the hurricane near or over Jamaica...the Cayman Islands and western Cuba with a decrease in forward speed.
Thereafter...the track continues to be uncertain since steering currents are forecast to weaken and models diverge. However...models from 12z are in slightly better agreement than in earlier runs...and in general have shifted a little bit westward. The official forecast also shows a slight westward shift.
If the low develops over Alabama, Ivan would veer closer to Florida; if it develops over Arkansas, it would move farther west over open water toward the upper Gulf Coast, he said.