THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 31, 1995 TAG: 9508310417
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
The storms are in retreat.
Although four cyclones and the remains of a fifth dot the Atlantic, a potential tropical onslaught against the East Coast is being averted, at least for now.
Credit goes to a defensive grid of the jet stream, dipping southeast toward Bermuda, and a frontal system running roughly northeast from Florida deep into the Atlantic.
Already it appears that two hurricanes - Humberto and Iris - have been deflected to the northeast. And Tropical Storm Karen, which is moving west-northwest on the heels of Iris, is similarly expected to take a harmless turn to the north.
That leaves Tropical Storm Luis and the remains of Tropical Storm Jerry, located over central Florida on Wednesday. And the frontal line was even pushing Jerry around, although that's not necessarily good news as Jerry could yet regain strength.
``Significant development will not occur as long as the low remains over the Florida Peninsula,'' said Richard Pasch, a meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami. ``However, the system may drift westward over the extreme eastern Gulf of Mexico. . . . Some reorganization may occur.''
At 5 p.m. Wednesday:
Hurricane Humberto, with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph, was accelerating to the northeast over the open Atlantic.
Hurricane Iris, with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph, was moving east-northeast at 7 mph. The 72-hour forecast calls for the storm to continue generally northeastward.
Tropical Storm Karen, with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph, was moving west-northwest at 9 mph. The forecast track has Karen falling in behind Humberto by this weekend, heading north-northeast. But that course would bring Karen within 300 miles of the forecast track for Iris. That's akin to a meteorological collision.
A strengthened Iris could steal Karen's energy and possibly swallow the storm.
Tropical Storm Luis, with winds of 50 mph, was moving west-northwest near 13 mph. It's still far away, with plenty of time to intensify while weather patterns east of the U.S. mainland change, potentially opening a door to the storm.
Luis is still too far away to be investigated by hurricane-hunter aircraft, so reports on its strength are based solely on satellite images. On Wednesday, those pictures showed a well-defined circulation with a cloudless center and evidence that the storm is intensifying.
Finally, a tropical wave located between the Cape Verde Islands and the African coast showed no signs of development Wednesday. ILLUSTRATION: TRACKER'S GUIDE
STEVE STONE/Staff
[For a copy of the graphic, see microfilm for this date.]
by CNB