Posts Tagged ‘Tropical Atlantic’

What does Paloma mean?

Thursday, November 6th, 2008

Paloma doesn’t mean much to energy traders as it will avoid the gulf production region. It could mean disaster (again) for Cuba.

Early today tropical storm Paloma formed off the eastern coast of Nicaragua. Although the storm came as a bit of a surprise, it doesn’t look to influence any oil production areas. It will start heading north over the next 12-24 hours but shear in the Gulf of Mexico will prohibit it from entering that area. Over the next 5-7 days it will pick up speed and intensity striking Cuba as a category 2 hurricane (cat 3 is not out of the question). Cuba seems to have been a magnet for storms this year with most tropical systems at least grazing some part of the island. 
 
Any impact on Europe is still about 10 days away and is unknown at this time. Please check back for the influence of Paloma on the European Union.
 

 

 

Brief Cool Down for Central Europe

Wednesday, October 15th, 2008

With hurricane season winding down, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) has made some questionable decisions in naming storms; the most recent example is the naming of Nana. This storm formed then dissipated faster than the recent rally on Wall Street. There are several theories as to why they are naming questionable storms, none of which I will get into here, but it is worth mentioning to prevent getting sucked in with the number of storms in a season. In fact, this year threatens to break last year’s record of the fewest tropical cyclone days in the Northern Hemisphere. 

Of course, the number of cyclone days will not make much of a difference as it only takes one or two storms to hinder petroleum production. Currently, there are 2 systems of interest in the Caribbean, neither of which will impact the production region. Hurricane Omar has developed, as predicted, southeast of Puerto Rico and is forecast to head north into the open Atlantic. Its remnants will be worth watching as they could play a role in European weather next week.  Tropical Depression 16 has formed just east of Honduras and is forecast to move west over the next 24 hours. Naming of this system SHOULD NOT happen but as we’ve seen in the past, it is not out of the question. 

Temperatures across the continent will see a slight cooling period as a trough moves in from the northwest. Heating demand will see a boost over the next 24-72 hours in central Europe. Eastern Germany could see highs in the single digits in some locations while Berlin will see highs around 12 C Friday through Sunday.  London will see below average temperatures through the weekend before warming back up early next week. Omar impacts could throw a wrench in this forecast as the final track is not yet fully known. 

  

 High temps for Europe through next week.