Courtesy of ZeroHedge View original post here.
US Gulf States Could Be Slammed By 'Rare' Double Tropical Threat Tyler Durden Fri, 08/21/2020 – 11:05
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) is forecasting two tropical depressions (Tropical Depression 13 and 14) to strengthen into Tropical Storm Laura and Marco on Friday. By Monday, both storms could strengthen into Category 1 hurricanes and take aim at the Gulf Coast of the US on Tuesday or Wednesday.
The Balm Peach Post quoted Colorado State University researcher Phil Klotzbach, who said if the NHC forecast of two hurricanes simultaneously traversing the Gulf of Mexico holds up, then it would be the first time in history.
At the start of the 2020 hurricane season, we noted how this year's season was going to be very busy. If both depressions strengthen into named storms in the coming days and take aim at the US, it would break the record of 6 tropical cyclone landfalls before the end of August.
The most Atlantic named storms to make landfall in the continental US (CONUS) by the end of August is 6, set in 1886 and 1916. The CONUS has already had 5 this year: Bertha, Cristobal, Fay, Hanna and Isaias. #TD13 #TD14 #hurricane pic.twitter.com/pV55VDTupO
— Philip Klotzbach (@philklotzbach) August 20, 2020
More recently, we said the hurricane season is about to go "from bad to worse with La Nina odds up."
The odds the equatorial Pacific will remain neutral, or even spin up a La Nina, have risen in the last month, the U.S. Climate Prediction Center said. In either state, the weather patterns over the Pacific actually decrease hurricane-killing wind shear across the Atlantic, allowing more storms to form and strengthen. –Bloomberg
NHC's latest update on Tropical Depression 13 and 14 was released on Friday, at about 5:00 ET, with indications 13 is "approaching the Northern Leeward Islands," and 14 is"approaching Honduras/Nicaragua border coast."
Long-term model tracking of both storms forecasts landfall could be possible early next week across Gulf Coast states, including Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.
Hurricane track models can easily change over the coming days. Nothing is certain but if NHC's forecast is correct, that is, two storms are about to simultaneously cross the warm water's of the Gulf of Mexico and take aim at the US next week, then this could be particularly dangerous for Southern states, already dealing with surging coronavirus cases and depressionary unemployment.