Tag Archives: Gulf of Mexico

Developing Hurricane Rafael headed to Cuba as locals are warned to prepare for flooding and mudslides

National-Hurricane-Center-map-of-Hurricane-Rafaels-path

Important Takeaways:

  • Residents in the Florida Keys have been warned that powerful storm surges could be headed their way as Hurricane Rafael barrels across the Gulf of Mexico.
  • Rafael, which is currently a Category 2 hurricane with wind speeds of 100 mph, will make landfall in Cuba today before sideswiping the Florida Keys on its journey northwest toward the Louisiana coast.
  • Up to 2 feet of storm surge is forecast for the Lower Florida Keys, which may cause some destruction along the coast due to flooding.
  • “Prepare for locally hazardous surge having possible limited impacts across the Florida Keys,” the National Weather Service (NWS) Key West said in a local statement.
  • Potential impacts may include “localized inundation with storm surge flooding mainly along immediate shorelines and in low-lying spots, or in areas farther inland near where higher surge waters move ashore,” as well as damage to marinas and piers, and moderate beach erosion.
  • Rafael is due to possibly reach Category 3 strength today before it makes landfall along the coast of Cuba. Hurricane warnings are in place in the Cayman Islands and several Cuban provinces, with tropical storm warnings across more Cuban provinces, Dry Tortugas, and the Lower and Middle Florida Keys from Key West to the west of the Channel 5 Bridge.
  • The hurricane is anticipated to bring up to 10 inches of rain in some regions of Cuba, which may trigger flash flooding or mudslides.
  • Up to 3 inches of rain are forecast for Jamaica and in the Lower and Middle Florida Keys, and there is also some potential for tornadoes in the Florida Keys.
  • The storm will then carry on across the Gulf of Mexico heading northwest, possibly making landfall in Louisiana at the weekend or early next week. Exactly how strong it will be and where it will make landfall is still unclear this far out, however.

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Helene likely to be a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico by Wednesday.

Tropical-storm-Helene

Important Takeaways:

  • Hurricane, storm surge and tropical storm watches have been issued for parts of Florida
  • Tropical Storm Helene could form later today, and it is forecast to strengthen into a large, major hurricane before it strikes Florida’s Gulf Coast Thursday.
  • The hurricane could be both strong and large at landfall with life-threatening storm surge, damaging winds and flooding rain.
  • Locally strong winds and heavy rain will push well inland in parts of the South into Friday.

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Tropical Storm Francine expected to become a hurricane as emergency preparedness begins in Louisiana

Tropical-Storm-Francine-Fox-Weather

Important Takeaways:

  • Tropical Storm Francine is expected to become a hurricane Tuesday in the Gulf of Mexico and will threaten the U.S. Gulf Coast with flooding rain, a life-threatening storm surge and damaging winds.
  • The current National Hurricane Center (NHC) forecast calls for a dangerous Category 2 hurricane landfall in Louisiana on Wednesday evening. Mandatory evacuation orders have been issued for people in multiple parishes as state and local leaders have urged people to prepare for the storm’s fury.
  • “Now is the time for Louisianans to prepare for impacts from Tropical Storm Francine, which is expected to become a hurricane … so get your game plan in place, monitor the news, and take advice from local officials,” said Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry issuing a state of emergency allowing parishes statewide to have the resources needed to help protect the lives of residents.
  • In Baton Rouge, Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome said she has been in constant contact with the National Weather Service, along with local and state officials, as preparations are made for Francine’s landfall.
  • “This storm is expected to bring threats of heavy rain, gusty to damaging winds and possibly a few tornadoes,” she said. “I want to encourage everyone to make preparations now.”

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Hurricane experts warning that Idalia will rapidly intensify the closer it gets to Florida

Hurricane Idalia

Important Takeaways:

  • Hurricane Warning in effect as AccuWeather warns Idalia will undergo explosive strengthening ahead of Florida landfall
  • AccuWeather hurricane experts say the storm will rapidly intensify into a powerful major hurricane over the eastern Gulf of Mexico before making landfall in the state’s Big Bend area of the coast.
  • An ‘extreme’ risk for impacts is now in place for a portion of the Sunshine State, centered around the region bridging the Gulf coasts of the panhandle and peninsula. This area will be most at risk for life-threatening storm surge flooding, damaging winds and torrential rain as Hurricane Idalia approaches on Wednesday morning.
  • Officials issued mandatory evacuation orders on Monday for parts of Pinellas and Hillsborough counties in Florida due to life-threatening conditions anticipated
  • Given the risk for rapid intensification, an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 155 mph is possible near landfall near the panhandle and Big Bend of Florida. AccuWeather hurricane experts are forecasting Idalia to come ashore as a major hurricane, with Category 3 level winds (111 to 129 mph) on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.
  • It’s not out of the question that some portions of Tampa Bay could have a storm surge of 7 or 8 feet, according to AccuWeather Lead Hurricane Expert Dan Kottlowski. The greatest storm surge, perhaps as high as 10-15 feet, is expected near and just to the southeast of Idalia’s landfall.
  • Where the most intense rainfall occurs, rainfall totals can approach an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 18 inches, which would lead to major, life-threatening flooding, since most of the rain will fall over the span of 12 hours or less.
  • “Tornadoes can also occur to the east of the center of the circulation as it moves across Florida”

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Tropical system brewing: FL Emergency team directed to prepare

Important Takeaways:

  • Florida could be in sights of tropical system brewing, hurricane center says
  • A tropical depression or storm has a high chance of forming from a system moving north toward the Gulf of Mexico with the potential to hit Florida, the National Hurricane Center said.
  • “I’ve directed @KevinGuthrieFL & the FL Emergency Management team to prepare for a potential tropical system currently moving across the Yucatán Peninsula,” Gov. Ron DeSantis posted on X on Thursday night. “Residents should remain vigilant and prepare for possible impacts early next week.”
  • “Environmental conditions appear conducive for gradual development of this system during the next several days, and a tropical depression is likely to form late this weekend or early next week while moving generally northward over the northwestern Caribbean Sea and eastern Gulf of Mexico,” forecasters said.

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Tropical Storm Harold heading into Texas as millions are under severe weather warning

Tropical-Storm-Harold

Important Takeaways:

  • One million coastal residents are under severe weather warning as Texas braces for Tropic storm Harold that is due to hit land today
  • Tropical Storm Harold is set to batter Texas today, placing one million coastal residents under a severe weather warning.
  • The tropical depression formed in the Gulf of Mexico overnight and is now bearing down on the Lone Star State, the National Hurricane Center said early Tuesday.
  • The storm, brewing east-southeast of Port Mansfield, is already packing maximum sustained winds of 45 mph, the Miami-based forecaster said, with its strength expected to increase by the time it makes land.
  • Texas residents are warned that Harold is set to arrive inland by noon Tuesday, as the storm warning was put in place in readiness at 1am this morning.
  • It comes as rescue crews work to dig roads, buildings and care home residents out of the mud across a wide swathe of south-western US desert as Storm Hilary – the first tropical storm to hit Southern California in 84 years – heads north, prompting flood watches and warnings in half a dozen states.

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Hurricane Season is around the corner and the water is setting record temperature highs from Texas to Florida

Sea Surface Temps

Important Takeaways:

  • Gulf of Mexico waters are hottest on record as coastal areas cook
  • The entire Gulf Coast region is seeing its hottest August on record so far, and many locations are also seeing their warmest year to date.
  • New Orleans also just finished its hottest seven-day stretch and has set record highs on 12 straight days (through Aug. 14).
  • Like land areas that surround it, the Gulf of Mexico has been running hot all year. Recent data indicate coastal water temperatures of at least 90 degrees from Texas to Florida.
  • “The Gulf of Mexico this week is the hottest it’s been at any point in any year on record by a wide margin,” Lowry tweeted.
  • The warm water has boosted the humidity along the Gulf Coast and kept overnight temperatures at record-high levels. New Orleans and Baton Rouge have already registered 11 record warm lows this month. And Houston and Orlando have each seen 10.
  • At the same time, there are signs the hurricane season may be about to awaken. Already, there are concerning signs that a disturbance could move into the gulf early next week. If it does, it will have exceptionally warm waters to fuel it. Certainly something to keep an eye on.

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Oil and gas lease approved. Largest sale in history. Inflation Reduction Act reinstates sale spanning 80.8 million acres

Revelations 18:23:’For the merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.’

Important Takeaways:

  • Biden approves largest oil, gas lease sale in US history, steamrolls eco review with inflation bill
  • The Inflation Reduction Act reinstates Lease Sale 257, an oil and gas sale spanning 80.8 million acres across the Gulf of Mexico
  • “Congress has acted, the leases must be issued, and the lawsuit must be dismissed,” he continued.
  • In November, the DOI held the lease sale which generated more than $191 million in bids for 308 tracts from fossil fuel companies despite criticism from several prominent Democratic lawmakers and environmental groups. However, a federal court blocked the sale in January ruling in favor of a coalition, led by Friends of the Earth and the Sierra Club, that argued the Biden administration failed to properly analyze the climate impacts of the sale.

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Department of Interior cans oil and gas production in Alaska and Gulf of Mexico

Rev 6:6 NAS “And I heard something like a voice in the center of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine.”

Important Takeaways:

  • Biden administration cancels Alaska oil and gas lease sale
  • The Biden administration has canceled one of the most high-profile oil and gas lease opportunities pending before the Interior Department. The decision, which halts the potential to drill for oil in over 1 million acres in the Cook Inlet in Alaska, comes at a challenging political moment, when gas prices are hitting painful new highs.
  • The department also halted two leases under consideration for the Gulf of Mexico region because of “conflicting court rulings that impacted work on these proposed lease sales.”

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U.S. moves to expand offshore wind beyond the Northeast

(Reuters) – The Biden administration on Thursday unveiled fresh steps toward building offshore wind farms in waters off the coasts of Massachusetts, the Carolinas and in the Gulf of Mexico.

The announcement is the government’s latest in an aggressive push to expand the nascent ocean industry to every U.S. coastline in a bid to wean the power sector off fossil fuels and address climate change.

To date, most U.S. development of offshore wind has taken place in the Atlantic Ocean off the coasts of Northeastern states. But the administration is eager to site projects in other areas, including the Southern Atlantic and West coasts.

In a statement, the Department of the Interior said it would propose an offshore wind auction in a 127,865-acre area off the coast of the Carolinas. The area could be divided into three leases and has the potential for enough energy to power more than half a million homes.

The public will be able to comment on the proposal for 60 days. The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, a division of Interior, could finalize a sale early next year.

The agency also said it would invite the public to weigh in on the potential for wind energy development in a 30 million-acre area of the Gulf of Mexico. The area stretches from just west of the Mississippi River to the Texas-Mexico border.

The move is an early-stage effort to consider offshore wind in the Gulf, which is home to the nation’s biggest offshore oil and gas drilling industry. Before deciding on whether to lease in the Gulf, BOEM would have to conduct an environmental review and seek input from the public and a government task force set up to consider offshore wind in the region.

Finally, the administration said it would kick off an environmental review for a project off the coast of Massachusetts, Mayflower Wind. The wind farm will have up to 147 turbines with the potential to power 800,000 homes.

Mayflower Wind is a joint venture between Shell New Energies U.S. LLC and Ocean Winds, a joint venture between EDP Renewables and ENGIE.

(Reporting by Nichola Groom; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)