First Storm Of The Season

MIAMI, Florida (AP) -- Tropical Storm Arlene developed Thursday in the northwest Caribbean Sea, edging closer to western Cuba as the Atlantic hurricane season's first named storm. Gulf Coast residents, including those in storm-battered Florida, were warned to beware.

Arlene had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph after strengthening from a tropical depression that formed Wednesday, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said. Tropical storms have top sustained winds of 39 mph to 74 mph.

At 11 a.m. EDT, the storm's center was about 165 miles south-southeast of the western tip of Cuba. It was moving north at about 8 mph, and this motion could bring the storm's center near western Cuba as early as Thursday night, forecasters said.

The large storm's winds and rain extended 150 miles to the north and east from its poorly organized center, meaning parts of the Florida Keys could start getting rain later Thursday, forecasters said.

Arlene was expected to enter the Gulf of Mexico by Friday, and residents from Florida to Louisiana were told to keep an eye on the tropical storm.

"Our best estimate of the track possibilities are that anywhere from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle could expect the center to be approaching them by the middle of the weekend," hurricane specialist Richard Knabb said.

Forecasters said Arlene was likely to remain a tropical storm, but Navy meteorologist Lt. Dave Roberts said there was an "outside shot" that the system could develop into a weak hurricane, depending on atmospheric conditions.

The Cuban government has issued a tropical storm watch for the western province of Pinar Del Rio to the capital of Havana. A tropical storm warning also was in effect for the Cayman Islands and the Dry Tort**** island grouping, U.S. territory about 70 miles west of Key West.

The system was causing heavy rain and squalls across the Caymans and western and central Cuba. Forecasters warned that very heavy rain in Nicaragua and Honduras could cause flash floods and mudslides.

The storm could drop as much as 5 to 10 inches of rain, meteorologists said.

Last year, the first named storm of the season was Tropical Storm Alex, which formed August 1. It later became a hurricane and came within 9 miles of the Outer Banks, North Carolina.

Within weeks, Florida was struck by Hurricane Charley, the first of four hurricanes to hit the state last season. It was followed by hurricanes Frances, Ivan and Jeanne. The four hurricanes damaged one out of every five homes in Florida.

The storms caused about 130 deaths in the U.S. and are blamed for a total $22 billion in insured damage.

Hurricane season began June 1 and ends November 30.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/06/0....ap/index.html

Crazy stuff, at least we had to wait till August last year LOL

The local news channels here have been prediciting that around 7 tropical sorms / hurricances will make land fall this year too :(

Regards,

Lee