TROPICAL STORM OPHELIA - TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT by Steve Gregory

OPHELIA - STILL A TROPICAL STORM - AND TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT
Posted By: SteveGregory at 12:05 AM CDT on September 08, 2005
Updated: 12:10 AM CDT on September 08, 2005
SEPT 7, 2005 11:25PM CDT

OPHELIA -- MEANDERING AROUND -- S L O W L Y INTENSIFYING

Ophelia remains nearly stationary about 80NM east of Cape Canaveral near 28.8N / 79.5W
-- and continues to slowly intensify. The latest RECON found the central pressure down
to 995mb, and a max wind of 54Kts in the SE Quadrant. The eyewall, about 18NM
across, keeps struggling to seal off, but even a MAJOR burst of convection early this
evening failed to continue -- and Ophelia is now showing a decrease in convective
intensity -- a normal diurnal variation.

The storm is located almost midway between 2 buoys - one located 20NM east of
Cape Canaveral, and another one about 120NM to the east of the Cape. The buoy
just off the coast has a NNW wind at 25Kts, Gusts to 29kts, while the buoy 120NM
east of the coast is now reporting a SSE wind of 29Kts and Gusts to 37Kts - along
with 13 foot waves.