Monday, July 18, 2005

NOAA Reports Emily Weakened After Crossing Yucatan Peninsula, Now In Open Waters

Below is a infrared satellite image of Hurricane Emily courtesy of The Satellite Services Division of the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service posted at 1:00 pm CDT July 18, 2005.

Hurricane Emily as of July 18, 2005

Hurricane Emily crossed over the Yucatan Peninsula overnight and has re-entered the Gulf of Mexico. Land strike predictions indicate Emily's next landfall will probably be on the Mexican mainland.

Emily's hurricane center as of 1:00 pm CDT was located at approximately latitude 22.0 North and longitude 90.3 West, which is approximately 490 miles (785 km) East-Southeast of La Pesca Mexico and 510 miles (820 km) East-Southeast of Brownsville Texas.

Emily's path is toward the West-Northwest at approximately 18 mph (28 km/hr), with this path predicted to continue throughout today. A gradual decrease in forward speed is expected. This surprises me because you would think that Hurricane Emily would increase in forward speed after re-entering the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

Maximum sustained winds are 75 mph with a central pressure of 984 MB. This makes Emily a category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale.