Stormwatch!

 

Eta formed in the Caribbean Sea.  It moved westward and hit Nicaragua as a Category 4 Hurricane. It moved back into the Caribbean Sea south of Cuba and regained strength before heading into the Gulf of Mexico.  We're the blue dot on the map!

  According to the "Windy" App.....it's windy out there!

The Atlantic Hurricane season, which includes the Gulf coast, runs from June 1 until November 30.   As a general rule the tropics tend to start calming down by the middle of October.  Of course 2020, hasn't    been an ordinary year, so we probably shouldn't have been surprised to wake up this morning to find      out that for the first time since 1985 a hurricane was in the Gulf of Mexico this late in the season.  Not    only had the very unpredictable Tropical Storm Eta restrengthened, but it had also drifted to the east       bringing it's path very close to Anna Maria Island.  If it continues on it's current path it'll make landfall about 100-150 miles north of us.                                                                                                                

Throughout the day the storm has continued to move upward along the Florida Gulf coast.  Thankfully, it has lost some strength and has been downgraded to a tropical storm.  We've had a lot of light rain and a few heavy downpours throughout the day.  Although the winds have not been much higher than 40 miles per hour on shore, wind gusts just offshore have been reported as high as 70.  The rain, winds and high tide, which is around 9:00 PM, may make for a few bumpy hours this evening.  

By tomorrow morning Eta will have crossed the state and be heading out into the Atlantic Ocean where it will break up.  Hopefully it won't leave too much damage behind.  We should wake up to sunny skies while we wait to see what else 2020 can throw at us!