The tropics are awake and alive. Hurricane Hanna has, as of this writing, just made landfall in Texas. Tropical Storm Gonzalo in the Caribbean has gone away, hopefully forever (forEVER?!). But for those with an eye on the Central Florida attractions, as well as Disney interests in Hawaii, there’s plenty to watch.
Disney’s Aulani resort and the rest of the Hawaiian islands are prepping for what is expected to be a northern pass by Hurricane Douglas. The center of the hurricane is currently expected to pass north of Oahu, the island on which Aulani sits, around 8PM Sunday (Hawaii time).
A hurricane warning is in effect for Oahu, though the fact that the storm is passing north of Oahu should help spare the Disney resort from the worst of the storm as it is situated on the southwestern edge of Oahu. Aulani remains closed due to COVID-19 precautions and a reopening date has not yet been identified.
Meanwhile, here at home, our eyes are on what the National Hurricane Center is now calling Invest 92L. This little blob of activity in the Atlantic, several hundred miles off of the Cabo Verde Islands, has a 70% chance of becoming at least a tropical depression within the next five days.
Where it goes and what it does after that is very much unknown at this time; it is entirely too early to say with any level of certainty (and anyone who says otherwise is a big stinky doo doo head). Having said that, the European model has been trying to stir up trouble with this thing for several model runs now. And now the American model is starting to agree with the general concept, though they’re both still disagreeing on where and how strong. Based on the current thinking, we could see Hurricane Isaias form within the upcoming week and possibly have an impact somewhere along the southeastern US coast within 10-14 days. There is still plenty of time for the thinking to change… which also means there’s plenty of time for you to learn how to pronounce this thing the way the hurricane center wants you to pronounce it (“ees-ah-EE-ahs”).
So keep calm and carry on, but check back in every now and then over the coming week.