Florida Sea Base News

Good morning from the Florida Sea Base.  Yesterday was picture perfect for the divers and just a little too still for the sailors.  But the sailors had some EXCELLENT snorkeling opportunities.  Today should be more of the same with a very small chance of a shower.

Invest 91L is forecast to be a Tropical Depression very soon.  It should be somewhere in the Lesser Antilles by Wednesday or Thursday.  Since the Lesser Antilles cover over 550 nm that really doesn’t narrow it down much.  So we will continue to watch the system closely.  The arguments that I have seen so far are suggesting that it should stay south of us or stay northeast of us.  But again, any forecast models have to be taken with a grain of salt at this early date.  Here’s the latest from the National Hurricane Center:

CLOUDINESS AND THUNDERSTORMS ASSOCIATED WITH A LARGE AREA OF LOW PRESSURE LOCATED ABOUT
950 MILES WEST-SOUTHWEST OF THE CAPE VERDE ISLANDS REMAIN FAIRLY WELL ORGANIZED...
HOWEVER SATELLITE MICROWAVE IMAGERY INDICATES THAT THE LOW DOES NOT YET HAVE A WELL-DEFINED
SURFACE CENTER OF CIRCULATION.  NONETHELESS...CONDITIONS APPEAR FAVORABLE FOR DEVELOPMENT
AND A TROPICAL DEPRESSION COULD FORM AT ANY TIME DURING THE NEXT DAY OR SO AS THIS SYSTEM
MOVES WEST-NORTHWESTWARD AT 10 TO 15 MPH.  THERE IS A HIGH CHANCE...90 PERCENT...OF TROPICAL
CYCLONE FORMATION DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS.

This graphic is from WeatherUnderground.  Bear in mind that this is very preliminary and will likely change.

Early projection for Invest 91L

I was out of the office most of yesterday.  Poor timing.  My office flooded AGAIN (from the air conditioner drainage system) ruining an irreplaceable poster from the Texas Sesquicentennial.  And one of the scuba arrivals had a paperwork issue that I will straighten out this morning.  Capt. Dennis Wyatt, Ellen Wyatt, Capt. Alex Bergstedt, Capt. Aaron Foster and April Oster sopped up the water in my office.  THANK YOU.  When I came in yesterday evening my office looked like a bomb had exploded in it.  I suspect it will take me a couple of hours to put it back in order.

Time to go.

Capt. Steve
Aboard S/V Escape