“Oh it’s just a Cat. 1.” “It’s only a tropical storm”
I’m here to show you two examples of why it’s important to always pay attention to how a storm, tropical or not, will impact you rather than what the category may be.
Recommended Videos
Chantal made landfall as a tropical storm in South Carolina over the weekend. Barry came ashore in Mexico as a very weak tropical depression last week.
Both storms had their hands in catastrophic flood events over the past several days.
Barry’s remnants help to juice the atmosphere over Central Texas for another weather system to use. That helped fuel the unimaginable tragedy unfolding in the Lone star state.
My friend and colleague David Nazario wrote a very nice breakdown on that, and I wanted to share it with you.
If you watched any of my nightly livestream last week (Now Monday-Friday at 9:30 p.m.), we talked that Chantal was a very lopsided storm. All of the nastiness was east of the center.
With Chantal making landfall in South Carolina, the worst of the weather ended up in North Carolina.
Chantal brought major flooding through central North Carolina after dropping nearly a foot of rain.
This is your yearly reminder that the category of a storm is only based on wind speed and nothing else.
It doesn’t dive deep into its personality, which is why it’s important to make sure you pay attention to the rainfall, storm surge and other hazards a tropical system can bring.
Going forward, the tropics are mainly quiet. There’s an interesting little disturbance north of the Bahamas that a few models suggest could develop into something off the Southeast coast.
Nothing to write home about with that one, though.
Beyond that, though, the tropics should be on vacation through mid-July.
Let me know if there is anything you want to see discussed in a future newsletter entry. My email is jkegges@wkmg.com .
Don’t forget to tune into the nightly weather livestream every Monday through Friday (NOW AT 9:30 p.m.) on the News 6 YouTube channel and ClickOrlando.com. Come with questions or comments!
Catch you soon!
Jonathan
Ways to stay connected this hurricane season
You can log on and chat with me live during our live streaming weather hangout session. That is every Monday-Friday at 9:30 p.m. To comment be signed into YouTube and subscribe to the WKMG/Clickorlando page or click here and become an insider and comment in the live chat box!
📱News 6 Weather App
Even if you are outside of Central Florida, download this app! This is the best hurricane app on the market, and it’s FREE. As soon as the National Hurricane Center names something, you’re going to know about. It’s a great way to follow the season, if you like doing that. Search WKMG in your app store and make sure you find the hurricane one.
💻YouTube
If you live in Central Florida, subscribe to the WKMG/ClickOrlando page.
If you love the weather, whether you’re in Central Florida or not, subscribe to JustWeather!
Clickorlando.com/hurricane is also a great resource no matter where you live.
📺News 6+
If you live outside of Central Florida or don’t have cable, first of all, thank you for finding the Tropics Watch newsletter! We have a lot of hurricane season-related content on demand here, and you can watch all of the newscasts LIVE as well. You can download that on your smart TV or other streaming devices.
One last thing. This is a two-way street. I/we are here for you. Any ideas? Like or hate something? Have any questions? Let me know. Shoot me an email at jkegges@wkmg.com. Find me on Facebook or X.
We’re in this together. We have families here, too. You’re going to get the same info we give to them. Thank you for your trust. We don’t take that responsibility lightly.
OK, now I’m done.
Talk to you soon!
- Jonathan