Tropical Storm Nate Weakens; May Become Hurricane Today

Tropical Storm Nate Weakens; May Become Hurricane Today

www.businessweek.com

Sept. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Tropical Storm Nate is expected to become the third hurricane of the Atlantic season today or tomorrow as it forces energy companies to begin evacuating platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.

Hurricane Katia may weaken in the Atlantic, while Tropical Storm Maria may strengthen as it heads toward the Virgin Islands, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.

Nate’s top winds are 65 miles (100 kilometers) per hour, under the threshold of 74 mph needed to be a hurricane, according to an NHC advisory at 5 a.m. East Coast time. The storm has been lashing Petroleos Mex

(visit the link for the full news article)



Related AboveTopSecret.com Discussion Threads:
Northeren Hurricane Watch 2011

Northwesterly Course

The hurricane center track takes Nate on a northwesterly course toward the Texas-Mexico border. Most computer models take the storm farther to the west, while at least one brings Nate across the central Gulf of Mexico.

Different Tracks

Two of the major forecasting models used by meteorologists showed different tracks for the storm, said Travis Hartman, a meteorologist with MDA EarthSat Weather in Gaithersburg, Maryland. One model took Nate into the oil- and gas-producing regions, he said. The other showed the storm heading into Mexico.

“It is a very uncertain situation right now,” Tom Downs, a meteorologist with Weather 2000 Inc. in New York, said in a telephone interview yesterday. “The computer model runs are bouncing all over the place.”

www.businessweek.com
(visit the link for the full news article)