Roatan Rag: Roatan Weather Forecast for Monday, Sept. 20, 2010

The Roatan Weather Forecast
As presented by

CoCoView Resort

http://www.cocoviewresort.com/

For information or reservations call 800-282-8932

http://www.roatan.com/

CoCoView is located

16.3°N Latitude x 86.5°W Longitude
in the
NW Caribbean Sea

and

Radio Roatan, FM 101.1

For Monday, Sept 20, 2010

Expect partly sunny skies with scattered showers and thunderstorms. The seas continue to be moderate with wave heights of 1 to 4 feet. Winds remain light and variable at 5 to 15 mph.
Wind and seas locally higher near squalls and thunderstorms. (See Fig 1)

Discusion and Analysis

This is a new section I have added and will include in the daily weather forecast when appropriate.

Early this morning, much to my surprise I awoke to distant thunder which was followed by rain. I immediately walked over to my computer to look at the water vapor loop (Fig 1), since there wasn't any rain in yesterday's forecast.

Look closely at the water vapor loop (Fig 1) and you will see that not only is the Gulf of Mexico covered in clouds, but that system is rotating clockwise. Go to: http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/east/tatl/flash-wv.html to see the actual animated loop and observe the moisture being brought down on us from the north.

Also in the water vapor loop notice the large area of cloudiness over the coasts of Columbia and Venezuela. It is moving slowly westward. That system will reach the North Coast of Honduras and the Bay Islands in a few days, bringing rain with it. If it continues to follow the pattern we have seen so far this summer, most of the rain will be on the coast.

Fig 2 is simply a graphic showing the location of that system in the Gulf of Mexico.

Elsewhere in the tropics

Hurricanes Igor continues north. Julia is a tropical storm and remains in the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean. . A low pressure system covers much of the western Gulf of Mexico, southern Texas and northeastern Mexico, causing heavy rains in these areas (See Fig 2). None of these systems pose a threat to the Bay Islands.

The low pressure system designated 94L is 400 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands. It continues to slowly move westward, where conditions are more conducive for further development. It now has an 80% chance of becoming a tropical cyclone in the next 48 hours.

The air temperatures will be in the mid to high 80s (F) or 27 - 29 (C).

Ocean water temperatures are about 85F to 87F or 29C to 30C.

The tides: Moon and Sun
low tide | 12:54 am LT Moon Rise - 4:03 pm LT

high tide | 6:56 am LT                                                    Moon Set - 3:21 am LT
low tide | 12:53 pm LT                                                Sunrise - 5:36 am LT
high tide |7:07 pm LT                                                    Sunset - 5:45 pm LT