Imelda to strike Bermuda as a Category 2 hurricane

Days (and days) of closely watching Atlantic storms, looking for how they will interact, have come to a head as Bermuda braces for a hit from powerful Hurricane Imelda. To the west, the United States is dealing with cold and hot weather in the near future.

Weather watch

Bermuda storms. Humberto is far enough north of Bermuda that the main impacts are missing the country, but dangerous seas and squalls have been common. Imelda is about to take it up a few notches as it passes very near the nation overnight Wednesday into Thursday. It’s forecast to strike as a Category 2 with 100 mph wind, likely causing some mayhem on the storm-hardened island.

Colder air. Frost and freeze alerts are up for a big chunk of New York and Northern New England as the chilliest air of the season so far settles in under a strong Canadian high pressure. Widespread 30s are expected with some high elevations into the 20s for Thursday lows.

Second summer. In the Upper Midwest, a fall heat wave is on the way. A few record highs are possible as soon as Thursday when upper 80s are expected as far north as northern North Dakota. Friday and Saturday, records should be numerous as 80s and 90s focus on a region from the Dakotas to the western Great Lakes.

Lightning links

Storm Amy named with 80mph winds and severe weather warnings for the UK. (Simon King, BBC)

Drone video shows homes along North Carolina's Outer Banks collapsing into Atlantic. (Steven Yablonski, FOX Weather)

How Atlantic Hurricane Season Usually Changes In October. (Jonathan Erdman and Jennifer Gray)

Tornado confirmed on remote Colorado mountain through satellite images. (Andrew Wulfeck, FOX Weather)

Doing that dance

We saw some clear indications of the Fujiwhara effect on Tuesday as Imelda and Humberto interacted with each other as Category 1 hurricanes. For a time, they were both the same strength while in extremely close proximity.

Hurricane expert Michael Lowry examined the numbers. The storms were indeed as close as it gets for hurricanes in the Atlantic — or only about 467 miles apart. This made it at least the second closest pair of Atlantic hurricanes on record, only behind unnamed storms in 1853. A more reliable record is of Easy and Fox in 1951, which were about 30 miles more distant as a grouping.

Few people alive have seen anything quite like it in the basin.

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Weekday morning newsletter by a journalist/forecaster. Connecting weather and climate change dots while occasionally stirring the pot.

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