KATC StormTeam 3 Weather BLOG

The Bahamas Weather Conference kicked off today with Diretor of the National Hurricane Center, Bill Read, reviewing the 2008 hurricane season.  Obviously of interest was better understanding Hurricanes Gustav and Ike…which is still be discussed as we blog.  (taking notes and blogging at the same time!) Of interest coming up this afternoon will be Drs. Gray and Klotzbach’s seasonal forecast.  In addition, I will be interviewing Bill Read this afternoon and will discuss some of the new hurricane center forecast products that will be incorporated in hurricane and tropical storm forecasts.  There will be longer watch and warning lead times with hurricane and tropical storm watches extending 48 hours out instead of 36 while tropical warnings will increase from a 24 hour lead time to 36 hours which hopefully give us all better lead times when critical decisions need to made.  In addition, the NHC will be issuing a “probalistic ensemble storm surge product” that will yield better guidance on what we can expect surge-wise for every storm…look for these products during the season, but as soon as more information is posted we’ll let you know.  You can also check out Bill Read’s video discussion on the storms here or you can see all the video interviews shot so far at the Bahamas Weather Conference site….more tomorrow…Rob