The 1st named storm of the season is Agatha. It is the thing in the Pacific. She should peter out over Guatamala by Wednesday. A lot of rain in that region, though.
It needs to peter out. Don't need it to cross into the gulf.
" The first tropical storm of the 2010 season hit the Pacific coastline of Guatemala and Mexico on Saturday, killing 12 people under landslides and rockfall triggered by torrential rains.
Tropical Storm Agatha's rains caused a landslide in a precarious hillside settlement of Guatemala City that killed four people and left 11 missing, Guatemalan disaster relief spokesman David de Leon said. Most of the city was without electricity at nightfall, complicating search efforts.
Four children were killed by another mudslide in the town of Santa Catarina Pinula about six miles (10 kilometers) outside the Guatemalan capital. And in the department of Quetzaltenango, 125 miles (200 kilometers) west of Guatemala City, a boulder loosened by rains crushed a house, killing two children and two adults, de Leon said.
Agatha formed early Saturday in the East Pacific and moved over land in the evening along the Guatemala-Mexico border, said the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.
The center of the storm was located 20 miles (30 kilometers) east of Tapachula on Saturday night, moving northeast at 10 mph (16 kph) and packing winds of 40 mph (65 kph).
More than 850 people were evacuated from their homes because of flooding affecting much of central and southern Guatemala.
Before the rains, Guatemala already was contending with heavy eruptions from its Pacaya volcano that have blanketed the capital in ash and destroyed 800 homes. Officials expressed concerns that Agatha's rains could exacerbate the damages.
Though the storm is expected to lose force as it comes ashore overnight, it still could bring rains of 10 to 20 inches (25 to 50 centimeters) and as much as 30 inches (75 centimeters) in isolated areas of Guatemala.
"The storm will start to weaken and we hope that on Sunday it will be just a tropical depression," said Romero Garcia of Guatemala's Meteorological Institute. "That is not to say that there won't be heavy rains."
The Pacaya volcano, which is just south of the capital, started spewing lava and rocks Thursday afternoon, forcing the closure of Guatemala City's international airport. A TV reporter was killed by a shower of burning rocks.
Airport official Felipe Castaneda told reporters Saturday that the airport would be closed for the next five days while ash is removed.
"The work to remove the ash was going forward, but the rain has complicated it," Castaneda said.
In El Salvador, authorities began evacuating hundreds of families in areas at risk for landslides and flooding, suspending fishing and tourism along the Pacific coast.
Five days of steady rainfall has already swollen a major river flowing through the capital San Salvador.
@farmerman,
farmerman wrote:
Ever get really sad for little Bermuda? Its all alone out there.
Bermuda is pretty well prepared for Hurricanes. The homes are built like concrete bunkers and are able to withstand significant winds. They also have an excellent disaster plan in place.
It's not as if Bermuda is immune to the destructive power of a hurricane or that when one hits them there isn't real concern, but they've always been at risk for major storms and they are better prepared for them than many places in the US danger zones.
Hurrican season is always a big crap shoot during which someone always loses, but we all hope it isn't us.
There's still a chance that El Nino will have the same moderating effect it had last year, but no one can with certainty one way or the other.
Even if the current predictions of increased activity prove true, precisely where the hurricanes hit is always the main issue.
A gulf hurricane with all that oil in the water would almost certainly present a greater disaster than otherwise.
If one hits Haiti, I may start to believe that God is actually punishing them for envoking Satan to rid their island of the French.
It's been a while since one made it's way as far North as Long Island, but if a big one does, be prepared for the most costly storm in history. Building codes in Florida have steadily improved in terms of hurricane damage mitigation, and one advantage to a steady diet of storms is constant refurbishing of homes. The New York metropolitan area, however, is about as vulnerable to a big storm as it ever was, and much more so than Florida.
Here are the names of 2010 hurricans
Alex
Bonnie
Colin
Danielle
Earl
Fiona
Gaston
Hermine
Igor
Julia
Karl
Lisa
Matthew
Nicole
Otto
Paula
Richard
Shary
Tomas
Virginie
Walter
I wonder who choses those names.
@CalamityJane,
That is indeed a strange assortment of names.
By the way, CJ, my friend Fbaezer has set up a thread called The A2K World Cup Striker Fantasy Game. We are up to 6 players. Fbaezer is off on holiday for a week. I am trolling for new players in his absence.
I note that you posted on at least one earlier thread about football. Please consider joining us.
@CalamityJane,
name that huricane - apparently a "very scientific job " - novices need not apply .
http://www.chiff.com/a/hurricane-names.htm
Quote: Naming the Big Storms
The Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML)'s site explains that the first use of a proper name for a tropical cyclone was by an Australian forecaster early in the 20th century.
He gave tropical cyclone names "after political figures whom he disliked. By properly naming a hurricane, the weatherman could publicly describe a politician (who perhaps was not too generous with weather-bureau appropriations) as 'causing great distress' or 'wandering aimlessly about the Pacific.'"
During World War II, US Army Air Corp and Navy meteorologists named Pacific storms after their girlfriends or wives. You'll have to decide for yourself whether the women were happy with having terrible cyclones named after them!
From 1950 to 1952, tropical cyclones, including hurricanes in the North Atlantic Ocean, were identified by the standard radio names: Able; Baker; Charlie;... etc., but in 1953 the US Weather Bureau switched back to women's names. Then, in a politically correct move in 1979, the WMO and the US National Weather Service (NWS) added men's names.
Choosing names for cyclonic events, like hurricanes, that are potential international disasters takes the work of an international group. Names for these storms are approved by a committee of the World Meteorological Organization. There are six lists of hurricane names. The names are reused every six years unless a storm creates enough havoc to have its name retired. [Retired names]
Why name hurricanes at all?
Names just makes it easier to talk about the storms and warn people about the dangerous ones. During peak hurricane season in late summer, there may be several storms heading in the same direction at the same time. If each one has a name, it makes talking about the storms easier and less confusing.
Since the name list started in in 1950, the furthest they have gone down the list has been in recording-breaking year of 2005, the first season to use "V" and "W" names.
In fact, after using up all 21 names, forecasters resorted to using letters from the Greek alphabet for the first time, dubbing the last storms of that year Alpha, Beta, Gamma,
Delta, Epsilon and Zeta.
" cj " is not yet on the list !
That would be funny, hamburger
Thank you RJB, I'll head over there.
At least 74 people were confirmed dead in Guatemala and the authorities were investigating 20 other reports of fatalities, emergency services spokesman David de Leon said.
More than 74,000 people have fled their homes.
At least 14 people were believed dead in the town of San Antonio Palopo, 90 miles southeast of the capital, Guatemala City, after a huge mudslide engulfed an entire neighborhood.
"There was a mudslide that wiped out homes, trees and everything in its path," said a man who gave his name on local radio as Luis.
"We have found 14 bodies and we think there are another eight to 10 beneath the mud."
Rescue workers scrambled to restore communications to towns and villages cut off by landslides where other victims were feared.
The intense rainfall has sparked concern over the condition of the coffee crop in Guatemala, the region's biggest producer, as well as in El Salvador, where the rains fell heaviest in the principal coffee-growing region.
The storm dissipated overnight as it crossed the western mountains of Guatemala but emergency workers warned residents to expect heavy rain for several more days.
Swollen rivers burst their banks and mudslides buried homes in towns and cities alike. A highway bridge near Guatemala City was swept away by the floodwaters and sinkholes opened up in the capital where many neighborhoods remained without electricity.
More than 3 feet (1 meter) of rain fell in parts of Guatemala, said President Alvaro Colom.
"Many places are cut off but it appears the weather will improve a bit today and we will be able to airlift supplies to those places. The road network is badly damaged," Colom said at a news conference.
Nine people were killed in neighboring El Salvador and more than 8,000 were in shelters, President Mauricio Funes said.
Three people were reported killed in Honduras, including a woman electrocuted as she was being evacuated from her flooded home. Officials warned of possible mudslides from saturated hills.
DAMAGE TO COFFEE UNKNOWN
Central America is vulnerable to heavy rains due to mountainous terrain and poor communications in rural areas. Last November's Hurricane Ida caused flooding and mudslides that killed at least 150 people as it moved past the region.
Guatemalan officials warned the flooding from the storm could be worsened by ash spewing out of the Pacaya volcano that has blocked drainage systems.
The volcano, which erupted on Thursday, had already closed the country's main international airport and aviation officials do not expect to finish cleaning ash and debris off the tarmac until at least Tuesday.
The volcano remained active on Sunday but the intensity of the eruption appeared to be diminishing, civil defense officials said.
Pacaya has been active since the 1960s but had not ejected rocks and ash since 1998.
The volcano, 25 miles south of Guatemala City, is close to some of Guatemala's most prized coffee plantations.
Coffee farms around the volcano reported some damage to plants but other areas were still out of contact, a spokeswoman for Anacafe, the national coffee association said.
"There is some defoliation and some of the beans have been damaged, but right now we are still working to determine the effect on the crop," Anacafe's Nancy Mendez told Reuters.
El Salvador's national coffee associations said poor communications had so far left it unable to determine the extent of any damage to crops.
@edgarblythe,
Uh, Guatemala City has environs that are just tossed together.
I'd like to see some engineers show up, non corrupted. But what good would that do?
I think corruption is the world's biggest problem.
@ossobuco,
As the great Argentine general, José de San Martín once noted.
"When you corrupt politicians you pay money; when you corrupt engineers you pay with your life."
@ossobuco,
I was in Guatemala City for a few days. I'd never say I know it. I do remember the wrecked planes lined up at the side as we landed at the airport.
Keep an eye on the little blip in the middle of the Atlantic. It is listed as having a 30% chance of developing into something.
I am somewhat worried about this season. El Nino has changed enough that forecasters predict as busy a season as any on record. Thankfully, they are often wrong.
MIAMI — Tropical Storm Celia has formed in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mexico, though forecasters say it is expected to remain well offshore.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Saturday morning that Celia is about 355 miles (575 kilometers) south-southeast of Acapulco, Mexico. Winds are reaching about 40 mph (65 kilometers per hour).
The depression is moving to the west-southwest at about 5 mph (7 kilometers per hour).
Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Blas was still swirling 455 miles (735 kilometers) south of the southern tip of Baja California. Its winds were at about 65 mph (100 kilometers per hour), but forecasters say it will likely get weaker starting tonight.
