Central Florida Hurricane Chasers
1997 Story Archives

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Tropical Storm Grace
16 October 1997 @ 3 PM EDT

Grace is no threat to land and the storm before her, Fabian, was a short lived system away from land as well.

It continues to be a relatively slow Atlantic Hurricane Season.
The East Pacific, however, has been very active. Pauline did a great deal of damage to the southeastern Mexico coastline.
[mac]



All is quiet again in the Atlantic
20 September 1997 @ 10 PM EDT

Once again, the quietness of the 1997 season is upon us.
Compared to the last two years, this is amazing-- a total opposite.

Since Erika is gone and there seems to be no threat of anything developing anytime soon we just haven't had anything to talk about here.
This is good news. There is an interesting movie clip viewable of Dr. Neil Frank's Hurricane Special that appeared on Houston TX's local station KHOU-TV 11.
Dr. Frank was the director of the National Hurricane Center before Dr. Bob Sheets took over. Like Dr. Sheets does from time to time on WFTV 9 locally in Orlando, Dr. Frank does for Houston.
WFTV produced a very good TV special earlier in the summer, but unfortunately that isn't available over the net. However Dr. Frank's Winds of Danger can be viewed with Real Video by clicking on this link:
Winds of Danger from KHOU-TV and Dr. Neil Frank This requires the Real Video player, which can be found at this site here.
Hopefully this will help trackers in the lull.


[mac]

Hurricane Linda
12 September 1997 @ 9 PM EDT

Well Hurricane Erika took a turn out to sea and spared the Carribbean.
There is nothing going on in the Atlantic right now, but even though we are usually stricly an Atlantic Hurricane Tracking site, we have to mention the Strongest Eastern Pacific Hurricane Ever, Hurricane Lina. With winds of 185MPH it may eventually threaten California (this never happens) but as a much weaker storm. Unfortunately data for the Eastern Pacific isn't as easily available as for the Atlantic. So we suggest going to the Hurricane Center for more information.
If it becomes a real threat to California we may set up a temporary page for it.

[mac]

Hurricane Erika
5 September 1997 @ 11 AM EDT

Yes it has been upgraded to a hurricane, and it still is moving West Northwest.

Hurricane Warnings are up for the extreme Northeast Carribbean Islands.

Good luck to all the islanders!

See the Current Storm Spotlight For the latest info!
[mac]

¿¿¿¿Erika????
5 September 1997 @ Midnight EDT

There is a big question with Erika.
What will she do?

She has defied most of the forecast models so far, and continues to head generally towards the west.
She appears to be once again strengthening.
The hurricane center has put out Tropical Storm Watches for the Carribbean Islands of Guadalupe, St. Maarten, St. Barthelemy, Antigua, Monserrat (which also has the active and destructive Soufriere Hills Volcano), Barbuda, Nevis, Sr. Kitts, and Anguilla. Some of these watches probably will be upgraded to Warnings soon.
If it makes hurricane status before it gets near these islands is anyones guess.
But, here comes the large question, thanks to the new Gulfstream Hurricane Hunter jet the Hurricane center has gotten a better idea of the steering currents for Erika. And what it found is not so good. It looks like it may not make a northerly turn, possibly for a while, and depending on what two cold fronts do (over the US now) in the future, it may not bode well for the US coastline, including Florida.
However, I would still bet on this storm turning north and out to sea before it gets to the US. But, the odds are getting closer to 50/50 now.
After all, the US is a very long way away still.
Hopefully this will change, and the storm will turn away. Everyone should be keeping tabs on this storm for the next few days. If it were to get near the US coastline, it would be 4 to 5 days away.

Good luck to all the islanders!

See the Current Storm Spotlight For the latest info!
[mac]

Erika heading West
4 September 1997 @ 2:30PM EDT

Tropical Storm Erika seems to be running into shear, which will keep it from stregthening for now, but it also has turned it more to the west, heading for the Leeward Islands in the Carribbean.
Nothing official has been made yet about this change in motion, but I would bet for some Tropical Storm Watches/Warnings up fairly soon.

What will it do to Erika in the long run is anyone's guess.
The last few satellite images of Erika have indeed shown the storm moving almost due west towards the islands, but it seems to be a weaker storm.
We will be awaiting the next official update on this storm with interest.

[mac]

Tropical Storm Erika
3 September 1997 @ 5:00PM EDT

Finally, after over a month of no activity, we have a new Tropical Storm to Track. Erika...
Where will she go? That's hard to say at this point, but I would think it would come very close to the lesser antilles, but pass them by to the north. However, this is definately subject to change.

Time to keep watch on her. Make sure to check out the Current Storm Spotlight for the latest information about Erika.

[mac]

No Storms in August
1 September 1997 @ 4:00PM EDT

For the first time in 36 years nothing tropical has developed in August. This is in stark contrast to the last two years, which have had 7 in 1995 and 4 in 1996.
This is good news for everyone, but it sure makes the hobby of tracking Atlantic storms a little dull.
It is important to note, though, that in September in the years with no August storms it was plentiful, with several landfalling storms. Will this be the case in 1997? That remains to be seen.

BUT! Since the storm in the western carribbean seems to have difficulty doing anything we must look to the east... Near the cape Verde islands is a storm that is on the verge of becoming a depression.

Because of the attitude of this year what I just stated may well turn out to be not true. (like the last few near-TD waves)
So Stay Tuned!

[mac]

Tropical Depression... of the Medical kind
30 August 1997 @ 4:00PM EDT

For those of us who have the hobby of tracking tropical storms and hurricanes in the Atlantic, it has been a very dull August, without so much as even a depression.

It seems this is a side effect of the record strength El Nino Southern Oscillation. Which is abnormally warm water in the eastern pacific which tends to damped the hurricane season in the Atlantic.
Good news is that this holiday weekend should be worry free of storms. Well except the possible salvation of a nil month by the system in the western carribbean which could very well become a tropical depression in 24 hours or so. If it becomes a Tropical Depression in August, but then becomes a storm or Hurricane in September, it will still be officially classified as a August storm. So there IS hope Tropical Weather Fans.
Stay tuned to that system in the western Carribbean, it has a chance. If this does develop, landfall is almost a certainty in the location it is at now, but we must wait and see.
[mac]

Erika Could be on the Horizon.
23 August 1997 @ 1:00AM EDT

We could very well have a 6th Tropical Depression soon, the middle tropical wave is looking VERY impressive.
I wouldn't be surprised to see a tropical depression later today. Perhaps even Erika.
The wave that just emerged from Africa looks impressive too, but its too early to tell what it will do.

[mac]

Two Areas Worth Watching
21 August 1997 @ 11:00AM EDT

The tropical wave referred to in the item below never really got anywhere, but now we have two areas that are really worth watching.
The Tropical wave that has just emerged from the coast of Africa sports a circulation, which the one in the central atlantic does not.
However, both have a decent chance of becoming something on or before this weekend.



[mac]

It's been very quiet for weeks, but we finally have something to watch.
16 August 1997 @ 4:00PM EDT

There is a very impressive looking tropical wave about 850 miles to the East of the lesser Antilles may finally break the spell of no storms to track.

Conditions are favorible for slow strengthening and it must be watched closely over the next few days.
Right now there is no way to tell where this system will eventually wind up.

[mac]

Tropics calm as of now!
27 July 1997 @ 6:00PM EDT

Tropics are quiet as of now. Keep checking back with us for the latest.

[jc]

Danny Wow! Coming back to life.
24 July 1997 @ 4:00PM EDT

Danny getting stronger over land, that's a first. Danny has been strengthing over land and now is getting back into water just of the coast of the North Carolina & Virginia state lines. Danny is expected to be renamed to "Tropical Storm Danny" again by the 5pm NHC advisory. Danny is also forcast to get stronger in the next 12-24 hours. Keep checking back with us for the latest.

[jc]

Danny now a Tropical Depression
20 July 1997 @ 12:00PM EDT

Tropical depression Danny now weakening. And no longer will NHC put out any advisories. Tropical Depression #5 is now a Tropical Wave but we will continue to watch that one for any furthure strengthing.

[jc]

Hurricane Danny
18 July 1997 @ 12:00PM EDT

Danny was upgraded to a hurricane this morning by the NHC, and it has already made landfall. However that was over the Mississippi River delta, and now it is back in the gulf, which allows it to hold its minimal hurricane strength. So it threatens Mississippi, Alabama, and even the western panhandle of Florida. It is moving extremely slow, so flooding from large amounts of rain is a problem. Power, telephone, and lights are out in quite a few places in Southeast Louisiana, and since this is a Hurricane with a center still over water, anyone in the Warning Area, (SE Louisiana to Destin, FL) should be done with any precautions by now.

See the current storm spotlight for more information.
[mac]

Danny strengthens to 60 MPH winds.
17 July 1997 @ 12:00PM EDT

This storm is quickly strengthening and could be a hurricane very soon, people in Watch/Warning area may want to start thinking about quick preparations at this time.
Due to sudden overload, the Current Storm Spotlight may not be working correctly, if it is not, here is a backup.
[mac]

Tropical Depression #5 forms
17 July 1997 @ 11:30AM EDT

Beyond the news about Danny, a new tropical depression has formed east of the winward islands that has the potential to become a threat down the road for the islands. [mac]

Tropical Storm Danny... Forms in Gulf
17 July 1997 @ 11:00AM EDT

This is an amazing July for tracking storms. Where in normal years, there is maybe one storm in the entire month, we have seen four form, with at least one more (east carribbean) looking good.
Danny is threatening land right now, it is a Tropical Storm with 50MPH winds and has the potential to strengthen pretty quickly. It will make landfall, exactly where and how strong it will be when it does is still up in the air. However, it looks as if it will strike near the Lousiana coastline sometime tomorrow (7-18).

A tropical Storm Warning and a Hurricane Watch have been issued for areas from Cameron, Lousiana to Orange Beach, Alabama. The watch is up because it is possible that the storm could reach minimal Hurricane force winds before it makes landfall.

If you live in this area, I'd be watching this storm VERY closely.
More info in the Current Storm Spotlight. [mac]

Tropical Depression #4 forms in the gulf expecting it to become Tropical Storm Danny.
16 July 1997 @ 5:00PM EDT

As of 5PM EDT Tropical Depression #4 forms in the north Gulf. This Depression is expected to become tropical storm Danny very soon. Also there is another area to watch in the Carribean that also could become TD #5 in the near future. Keep checking back with the CFHC for the latest!

[jc]

Claudette leaving. Tropics starting to fire up!
15 July 1997 @ 10:00PM EDT

Claudette no longer showing any growth and heading out into the Atlantic. Two upper level lows, one off the coast of FL, and the other in the western Gulf, starting to cause a little concern with the hurricane center. We all need to watch these two area's very closley in the next few days.

[jc]

Bill out of picture, TD #3 forms, will it become Claudette?
13 July 1997 @ 1:30PM EDT

As hurricane Bill races out of the picture and no threat to land, Tropical Depression #3 forms off the coast of the Carolina's. We feel this depression will become Tropical Strom Claudette and eventually become a hurricane. The question today is where will this storm go? Keep checking back for the latest info.

[jc]

Bill Upgraded to Hurricane but No Threat to Land, and Something else Interesting to Watch!
12 July 1997 @ 5:30PM EDT

The Atlantic season begins heating up with the first Hurricane of the year, Bill. Bill is racing northeast away from the US and should become extratropical fairly soon.
More interesting, possibly, is the storm that appears to be trying to form south of Cape Hatteras. It's location and the weather around it puts its future very much at question.
This new low brewing is definately worth keeping an eye on.

[mac]

Tropical Storm Bill Forms Southwest of Bermuda. Tropical Storm Warnings go up for Bermuda.
11 July 1997 @ 12:30PM EDT

The second Tropical Storm of the 1997 season has formed from that low we were watching, and is expected it is moving AWAY from the US. However, Bermuda may be under the gun for some Heavy Rain that is associated with a Tropical Storm, as they have issued a Tropical Storm Warning for that island.

Also notable that this storm formed, officially, as a Tropical Storm and skipped the Tropical Depression phase altogether. The status of Bill was given by aircraft recon flights. The winds supported it, and on the satellite picture it is starting to look fairly decent.
See the Current Storm Spotlight for more information on Bill.
[mac]



Is There Something Brewing East of Bahamas?
09 July 1997 @ 4PM EDT

East of the Bahama islands, there is an area of storms where surface pressures have been dropping recently. The conditions are ok for development and it very well could become a depression tomorrow or Friday.
If it did, and this is important, chances are that it would veer eventually to the northwest and then north and miss the coast of the United States completely. However, as always, this should be watched to see if it continues to show signs of wanting to become a tropical depression.

[mac]



Tropical storm Ana downgraded to tropical depression.
03 July 1997 @ 5PM EDT

Tropical storm Ana losing strength, we believe this storm will no longer be a threat to the coast. We will continue to monitor the tropics, so in the mean time have a happy 4th of July weekend and stay out of the heat for prolong periods of time.
[jc]

Tropical Depression #1 Upgraded to Tropical Storm ANA.
01 July 1997 @ 5PM EDT

The first named storm of the year, Tropical Storm Ana
TD#1 upgraded to a tropical strom Ana at 5pm est. The first day of July and the first named storm forms in the Atlantic. Tropical storm Ana is moving slowly east away from the US, and is unlikley that it will threaten us. But we will keep a close eye on this one.

Coordinates: 31.4 N, 73.39 W -- Windspeed: 45MPH - Pressure: 1002MB Movement East near 10MPH

[jc]

The first Tropical Depression of the year forms.
30 June 1997 @ 7PM EDT

Tropical Depression #1 has formed east of North Carolina.
It is expected to linger and most likely go out to sea and never threaten land. However, this is not set in stone by any means. It is currently drifting Southeast so we are watching it.

Coordinates: 31.8 N, 75.9 W -- Windspeed: 35MPH - Pressure: 1012MB Movement East Southeast near 6MPH

[mac]

Two Weak Lows to Watch!
29 June 1997 @ 9PM EDT

One day left for the month of June and two weak lows are being closely watched. They may not become anything but need to monitored. Continue to check back with us for any further development.
[jc]

[JC]

Is There Something Brewing East of Bahamas?
09 July 1997 @ 4PM EDT

East of the Bahama islands, there is an area of storms where surface pressures have been dropping recently. The conditions are ok for development and it very well could become a depression tomorrow or Friday.
If it did, and this is important, chances are that it would veer eventually to the northwest and then north and miss the coast of the United States completely. However, as always, this should be watched to see if it continues to show signs of wanting to become a tropical depression.

[mac]



Tropical storm Ana downgraded to tropical depression.
03 July 1997 @ 5PM EDT

Tropical storm Ana losing strength, we believe this storm will no longer be a threat to the coast. We will continue to monitor the tropics, so in the mean time have a happy 4th of July weekend and stay out of the heat for prolong periods of time.
[jc]

Tropical Depression #1 Upgraded to Tropical Storm ANA.
01 July 1997 @ 5PM EDT

The first named storm of the year, Tropical Storm Ana
TD#1 upgraded to a tropical strom Ana at 5pm est. The first day of July and the first named storm forms in the Atlantic. Tropical storm Ana is moving slowly east away from the US, and is unlikley that it will threaten us. But we will keep a close eye on this one.

Coordinates: 31.4 N, 73.39 W -- Windspeed: 45MPH - Pressure: 1002MB Movement East near 10MPH

[jc]

The first Tropical Depression of the year forms.
30 June 1997 @ 7PM EDT

Tropical Depression #1 has formed east of North Carolina.
It is expected to linger and most likely go out to sea and never threaten land. However, this is not set in stone by any means. It is currently drifting Southeast so we are watching it.

Coordinates: 31.8 N, 75.9 W -- Windspeed: 35MPH - Pressure: 1012MB Movement East Southeast near 6MPH

[mac]

Two Weak Lows to Watch!
29 June 1997 @ 9PM EDT

One day left for the month of June and two weak lows are being closely watched. They may not become anything but need to monitored. Continue to check back with us for any further development.
[jc]

[JC]

The Atlantic, Gulf and Caribbean remain quiet.
25 June 1997 @ 9AM EDT

Although the tropics are very quiet for the month of June, Central Florida Hurricane Chasers are keeping a close eye out for any tropical developement. Keep checking back with us to keep up on the latest. As soon as tropical storm forms in the area we will have a lock on it.
[jc]

Will the Remains of East Pacific Tropical Storm Andres Redevelop?
8 June 1997 @ 8PM EDT

That is the question tonight. Pardon the lack of updates this week.
In the Eastern pacific Tropical Storm andres formed and became the first storm of that season, and since the CFHC is focused only on Atlantic storms we did not cover it.
The storm wandered around and disapated over land, now however the surface low that once was Andres has moved over the Western Carribbean. This is something to watch, because it has a chance to redevelop. If it does, it will be slow.

[mac]

Disturbance off NC has moved away. The Atlantic Tropics are quiet.
2 June 1997 @ 1PM EST

The system that was off the North Carolina coast yesterday has merged into a cold front near Cape Cod, it is no longer a problem.

Outside of that there is nothing going on in the Atlantic now. The map shown yesterday was in error, the yellow arrow should have pointed to the cloud mass just south of NC, not SE of Miami.
June is usually relatively quiet for storms and Hurricanes, the peak of the season is in August and September. Most storms that have formed this time of year did so in the Western Carribbean and Gulf of Mexico. Tropical Storm Arthur, which formed near the start of last years hurricane season, did so off the Florida coast, which is relatively unusual for June.

The Storm Forum is back up and working now. [mac]

Hurricane Season Begins... Small area seveal hundred miles south of Cape Hatteras being watched.
1 June 1997 @ 8AM EST

Hurricane season is here, and we are ready for it. However, one of our web server sites died on us last night. We have set up two sites at two seperate locations in case the servers become overloaded (last year during Hurricane Bertha our old web server died due to too many people trying to get on).
This year we have two sites set up, http://www.outdoor.com/tropics and http://digital.net/~jrc1/tropics We prefer folks to use the outdoor.com address, as it offers more features (like the ticker and storm forum).

As I write this, our outdoor.com server is down if you get a DNS not found error to outdoor.com try connecting to http://207.226.254.74/tropics.
In order to consistantly get on, even during approaching storms, Bookmark both sites in case one is down, but try to use outdoor.com first.

That said, we have an interesting area of weather to start off with:

What must be said about this area off of the south of The North Carloina Outer Banks is that it likely will not become anything, due to shearing from an upper level low near Tennessee that is causing tons of rain in that area. This low is shearing off some of the clouds off our current spotlight area.
However, if this upper low moves back then this storm may have a chance at some organization and may become this seasons first tropical depression. June is relatively too early for any fast formation of a storm. This is something to watch at the very least. [mac]

Get Prepared now for Hurricane Season.
20 May 1997

In a little over a weeks the start of Hurricane Season will arrive. Make sure you plan ahead now for what may happen in the future.
Part of that preperation includes planning where to go in case an evacuation order is given for your area.
Hurricane Season Approaches. New Storm Forum is Up!
8 May 1997

We are not finished improving the CFHC pages! Today we have added a new suggestions/comment page to make it easier for you to email us comments.
Also of note is the Storm Forum which is a message board to discuss hurricanes and ask questions. Try it out, and let people know about this site.

Also, this year is the 5th anniversary of Hurricane Andrew hitting south Florida (and LA). Andrew was the costliest Hurricane ever and reminds us what the power of these storms can do.
Andrew could have very easily hit Central Florida, but it hit the Homestead area and cause damage that can still be seen today.
This is NOT the type of storm we would like to see, it caused many problems for Florida that we are still not over yet.
More Changes to the Hurricane Pages
1 May 1997

We are experimenting with new methods to use during Hurricane season, such as using a javascript program to help do the Current Storm Spotlight. We may decide to go back to the old style if this proves to be a bad decision. We have also done minor updates to the links and archives pages. There is still more to come in the future!

Also, soon the URL of this page will become http://www.outdoor.com/tropics! We will let you know when this happens! One more month till hurricane season starts again.

Hurricane Forecast Updated & Page Redesigned
26 April 1997

Dr. William Gray and his team of hurricane researchers are sticking with their earlier prediction of 11 tropical storms, 7 of which would form into hurricanes. This predictions puts the 1997 with above-average hurricane activity. Of those, three intense storms are expected. Again, Dr. Gray's predictions do not predict land falling hurricanes, but just the amount of hurricanes in the Atlanta.

For more details see the Colorado State University report.

Hurricane Season starts June 1^st.

Also of note, we have began the changes to our layout for the season. Please send us feedback if you have comments on what we are doing.

Preparing for the 1997 Hurricane Season
27 March 1997

As this year's hurricane season approaches we will attempt to be more prepared and more reliable for the coming season. In 1997 Dr. William Gray from Colorado State Univeristy has predicted an above average year for the 1997 hurricane season, see the Press Release.

1997 Hurricane Names: Ana, Bill, Claudette, Danny, Erika, Fabian, Grace, Henri, Isabel, Juan, Kate, Larry, Mindy, Nicholas, Odette, Peter, Rose, Sam, Teresa, Victor, and Wanda.

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