New tropical disturbance 95L a threat to Central America

A tropical disturbance (95L) has formed near 11N, 79W, just north of Panama, in the extreme southern Caribbean. This disturbance has a large but disorganized area of heavy thunderstorm activity associated with it. The latest QuikSCAT satellite imagery from 5:45am EST today caught just the east side of the disturbance, and revealed top winds of 35-40 mph. An ill-defined and elongated surface circulation was apparent in the QuikSCAT data, and some evidence of rotation...Read More

Central American disturbance less organized

A tropical disturbance (95L) near 11N, 79W, just north of Panama, has remained nearly stationary and become less organized over the past 24 hours. The amount of heavy thunderstorm activity has decreased, and the winds from the latest QuikSCAT satellite pass at 6:11pm EST last night revealed top winds of only 20-30 mph. An ill-defined and elongated surface circulation was apparent in the QuikSCAT data, and some evidence of rotation can be seen on the latest visible ...Read More

Central American disturbance decays; Philippines brace for another typhoon

A tropical disturbance (95L) near 11N, 78W, just north of Panama, has continued to grow less organized. Wind shear has increased from 10 to 20 knots over the disturbance in the past 24 hours, which probably accounts for the storm`s deterioration. There is now very little heavy thunderstorm activity, and this morning`s QuikSCAT satellite pass showed no surface circulation, and winds of barely 20 mph. The system is expected to drift slowly westward towards Nicaragua, ...Read More