Manatee may be bracing for tropical storm this weekend

As reporter Nick Williams spells out in this weather update just posted, an undeveloped trough of turbulent weather in the Gulf of Mexico has a 70 percent chance to turn into a tropical depression and tropical storm.

The National Hurricane Center was scheduled to launch a hurricane hunter aircraft this afternoon to conduct weather reconnaissance, but because of the system’s disorganized patterns, it was rescheduled to 2 p.m. Saturday.

Read more here: http://www.bradenton.com/2012/06/22/4088015/turbulent-weather-in-gulf-may.html#storylink=cpy

Ex-Tropical Storm Chris weakens, advisories stop

A day after spending mere hours as a hurricane, the former Tropical Storm Chris was weakening in the north Atlantic and not headed for any land, the Associated Press is reporting.

The storm's maximum sustained winds today have decreased to near 45 mph (75 kph). The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami says the tropical storm has become a post-tropical system and it will no longer issue advisories.

Chris is centered about 335 miles (535 kilometers) east-southeast of Cape Race, Newfoundland, and is moving west-northwest at 16 mph (26 kph).

Hurricane Chris is first in Atlantic for 2012 season

On this first full day of summer, we have our first Atlantic hurricane of the season: Chris.

Chris remains far from land. Forecasters at the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami say Chris's top sustained winds have increased to 75 mph (120 kph), and it's moving to the northeast at 20 mph (32 kph).

Bay News 9 update as of 3:05 p.m.

Stay tuned here, to Bay News 9 and on Bradenton.com for updates.

Read more here: http://www.bradenton.com/2012/06/20/4085995/tropical-storm-chris-may-have.html#storylink=cpy

Ex-hurricane Rina is losing it

The former Hurricane Rina has weakened to a tropical depression as it moves out to sea from Mexico's Yucatan coast, the Associated Press reports.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami reports that Rina's maximum-sustained winds are down to 35 mph (55 kph).

The forecast track shows it moving away from the northeast tip of the Yucatan Peninsula and then turning south over the weekend to stay over the Caribbean.

Additional weakening is forecast in the next 48 hours and it could become a remnant low pressure area this weekend.

Rina's center is about 55 miles (90 kilometers) north-northeast of Cancun.

Force field around Florida?

Tropical Storm Rina is very near Cozumel at this hour, but any concern South Florida and the Gulf Coast of Florida had for the storm has all but dissipated now.

The latest track has it clipping the Yucatan, then basically doing a complete 180 and heading back -- as a depression, mind you -- toward the Honduras coast.

Get all the details here.

Rina's 11 p.m. forecast track

The latest forecast track shows Rina circling back south after clipping the Yucatan late Thursday/early Friday.

Find all the National Hurricane Center details here.

Rina could bring weekend rain, wind to South Florida; not much to Manatee County

By Daniel Chang
McClatchy Newspapers

MIAMI — Hurricane Rina awoke Wednesday in ragged shape, according to the National Hurricane Center’s latest advisory, with the storm’s eye wall losing definition and forecasters suggesting the storm will weaken significantly in the coming days.

In fact, said Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist with the National Hurricane Center in Miami-Dade, “the storm may have already peaked. We’ve got a (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Hurricane Hunter aircraft in the area right now trying to confirm that.”

But while forecasts call for Rina to shear apart by Sunday under southwesterly winds and a cold front descending from the Midwest, the storm’s future track is much less certain and South Florida remains in the dreaded “cone of uncertainty” — an area stretching about 250 miles in each direction from the storm’s center — for the coming Halloween weekend.

In Key West, where the popular Fantasy Fest celebration is scheduled to culminate this weekend in costumed parades, music and merriment, the forecast calls for stormy weather.

“Folks in extreme South Florida and particularly through the Keys should be prepared for a wet and wind-swept weekend,” Feltgen said. “It’s too early to tell exactly what impacts exactly would be felt, but it’s certainly a distinct possibility there could be tropical storm conditions.”

As for Manatee, Rina’s current track would bring just an increased chance of rain Friday and Saturday, with winds near the coast of about 15 mph to 20 mph, according to Jennifer McNatt, meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Ruskin.

— Herald Night Metro Editor Brent Conklin contributed to this report.