Gaston and Yet Another Tropical Wave, Join the Fray

It could be described as a sport, with islands as pins and storms being bowled off Africa with precision this late August/early September 2010, but the active waters of the Atlantic offer no game whatsoever.

Over the past week, forecasters have had to monitor Hurricane Danielle – now gone, Hurricane Earl – barreling to the North East United States after paralleling the Bahama Chain at a safe distance and Tropical Storm Fiona, which proved to be a nuisance to officials in the Leeward Islands trying to clean up the fallen trees and electricity poles that litter their streets from the passage of Earl earlier in the week.

The All Clear was issued by Anguilla in the Northern Leeward islands for Fiona on Wednesday afternoon at about the same time that the island’s deputy Governor announced schools would remain closed through to Monday September 6th and that electricity would be restored to about 70% of the households on the island by end of day. It is damage suffered from a near direct hit by an intensifying Hurricane Earl which passed just off the northern coast of Anguilla. Even as the island, like its neighbours, assesses its situation, officials must keep their eyes and ears tuned to yet another set of disturbances wheeling away from the West African coast with vigor. Late on Wednesday Tropical Depression 9, developed into Tropical Storm Gaston the seventh named storm of the season and the fourth Tropical Storm in 11 days, again east of the Lesser Antilles.  Gaston according to forecasters, could become a hurricane by the weekend and possibly a major hurricane next week, however there is a level of uncertainty associated with the intensity projections. 

Just behind Gaston, yet another Active Tropical Wave, has emerged off the African Coast. Still too far east to warrant too much attention, these storms at this point must remind residents from the Windward Islands to the Bahamas, that beauty comes with a price, and Hurricane preparations are an essential part of daily life.