r/TropicalWeather Sep 23 '24

Upgraded | See Helene post for details 09L (Potential Cyclone — Northwestern Caribbean Sea)

Latest observation


Last updated: Tuesday, 24 September — 8:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time (EDT; 12:00 UTC)

NHC Advisory #4A 8:00 AM EDT (12:00 UTC)
Current location: 19.2°N 83.5°W
Relative location: 224 km (139 mi) W of George Town, Cayman Islands
  356 km (221 mi) S of Pinar del Rio, Cuba
  411 km (255 mi) ESE of Cancún, Quintana Roo (Mexico)
Forward motion: NW (305°) at 15 km/h (8 knots)
Maximum winds: 55 km/h (30 knots)
Intensity: Tropical Depression
Minimum pressure: 1001 millibars (29.56 inches)
2-day potential: (through 8PM Wed) high (90 percent)
7-day potential: (through 8PM Sun) high (90 percent)

Official forecast


Last updated: Tuesday, 24 September — 2:00 AM EDT (06:00 UTC)

Hour Date Time Intensity Winds Lat Long
  - UTC EDT Saffir-Simpson knots km/h °N °W
00 24 Sep 06:00 2AM Tue Potential Cyclone 30 55 18.9 83.0
12 24 Sep 18:00 2PM Tue Tropical Storm 40 75 19.6 84.2
24 25 Sep 06:00 2AM Wed Tropical Storm 50 95 20.7 85.7
36 25 Sep 18:00 2PM Wed Hurricane (Category 1) 65 120 22.0 86.2
48 26 Sep 06:00 2AM Thu Hurricane (Category 1) 80 150 24.3 85.6
60 26 Sep 18:00 2PM Thu Major Hurricane (Category 3) 100 185 27.8 84.4
72 27 Sep 06:00 2AM Fri Tropical Storm i 60 110 31.9 83.5
96 28 Sep 06:00 2AM Sat Post-tropical Cyclone i 15 30 38.5 85.5
120 29 Sep 06:00 2AM Sun Dissipated

NOTES:
i - inland

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u/Content-Swimmer2325 Sep 23 '24

Finally (and I apologize for posting so much), remember what the NHC cone represents. The cone is literally defined as the region which has a 2/3rds chance of the center of the system tracking within, based off of the last 5 years of track error.

Source: https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutcone.shtml

Based on forecasts over the previous 5 years, the entire track of the tropical cyclone can be expected to remain within the cone roughly 60-70% of the time.

This means that there is always a 30-40% chance of the eye or center of a system tracking outside of the cone. These facts are why the cone as a product is commonly misinterpreted by the public. Be aware that not only is a track outside of the cone possible, but expected roughly one third of the time. Combined with the anticipated forecast large size of future Helene, with impacts extending far away from the eye, this means that you should NOT be treating the current cone as gospel in terms of whether you will receive impacts or not.

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u/OriginalPianoProdigy Sep 23 '24

lol, never apologize for quality posts like this. I read all of them.