Tropical Storm Karen

[Pfishingruven]

Invest 97L has been upgraded today to Tropical Storm Karen, currently entering the Gulf of Mexico.  Karen is forecast to become a weak, minimal Category 1 Hurricane before weakening into a Tropical Storm and making landfall around the Gulf Coast of Mississippi and Louisiana.  All of the areas from Florida to Louisiana will see rain amounts upwards of 12-15 inches and winds gusting to 75 mph.  The storm will take a northeast track up along the interior of the East Coast before approaching NJ from the southwest as tropical remnants.  Some gusty winds to 20 knots and rain in the area of 2-3 inches which could cause flooding conditions and possible coastal flooding is possible as well.  Coastal Flooding guidance is not available at this time, but will be updated as soon as it becomes available.  This will occur sometime on Monday and Tuesday.  Of course, with any system, the timing, track and intensity could change at any point.

I will keep updated on this cyclone as the information changes for our area.  Remember, just because the area is not taking a direct coastal impact from this system, does not mean it should be ignored.  Many remnants have caused major flooding in years past.

NWS PHI Briefing #1 TS Karen

SUMMARY OF 500 PM AST...2100 UTC...INFORMATION
----------------------------------------------
LOCATION...31.8N 38.7W
ABOUT 790 MI...1270 KM WSW OF THE AZORES
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...35 MPH...55 KM/H
PRESENT MOVEMENT...ENE OR 60 DEGREES AT 14 MPH...22 KM/H
MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE...1010 MB...29.83 INCHES

[Pfishingruven]

Sorry, I haven't updated on this storm, but there just wasn't anything to update on.  I was waiting for this final briefing and forecast before I updated anything.  Tropical Storm Karen has been downgraded to post-tropical remnants already and it is not even out of the Gulf, nor has it made landfall.  Karen stalled off the coast of Louisiana and Mississippi this weekend and did not strengthen.  It began to rapidly weaken and without any forward momentum will get caught up in the front and move east-northeast over Florida.  Our area will see little to no impacts from this storm.  It is still supposed to rain tonight and through Monday due to the passing cold front.  Some tropical moisture has gotten caught up in the front and will still bring 1-2 inches with 3-4 inches of rain possible locally causing some localized and flash flooding, gusty winds 25-35 mph and some minor coastal flooding Monday and Tuesday Morning.  However, this is NOT due to Karen!

Here is the latest and last Briefing from the NWS PHI and some graphics!

NWS PHI Karen Briefing