Tropical Storm Lee Threatens Much of the Gulf Coast with Heavy Rainfall; Landfall

BOSTON, Sept. 2, 2011 – According to catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide, Tropical Depression 13 has strengthened to Tropical Storm Lee. Lee is currently 200 miles southeast of Cameron, Louisiana, and 210 miles southwest of the mouth of the Mississippi River. Maximum sustained winds are 40 mph, up from 35 mph earlier today, and Lee’s tropical storm-force winds extend outward for 200 miles. The storm is moving very slowly north through the Gulf of Mexico, at 2 mph. A tropical storm warning has been issued for Pascagoula, Mississippi, west to…

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Typhoon Talas Heads for Japan

BOSTON, Sept. 2, 2011 – According to catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide, Typhoon Talas formed on August 25 as the Japan Meteorological Agency’s (JMA) 12th named storm of the 2011 Northwest Pacific typhoon season. The typhoon is located south of Osaka, Japan, moving 12 km/h in a north-northwest direction. Talas is a large storm, with tropical storm force winds extending up to 650 km from its center. Maximum 10-min sustained wind speeds are 120 km/h (with gusts up to 175 km/h), making it a weak Category 1 hurricane on the…

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Tropical Storm Nanmadol Poised for China Landfall after Battering Taiwan and Philippines

BOSTON, Aug. 30, 2011 – According to catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide, Tropical Storm Nanmadol is moving slowly at about 3.2 km/h across the Taiwan Strait toward a landfall in China’s Fujian province sometime in the next 12 hours. Nanmadol’s current sustained winds are at about 85 km/h, having weakened to tropical storm strength after it made a landfall on southernmost Taiwan early Monday morning local time as a Category 1 typhoon. Nanmadol currently is heading toward Xiamen, Fujian’s second-largest city (population 1.5 million, 2010). As of the Japan Meteorological…

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Irene Weakens to Tropical Storm as it Makes Landfall on New York’s Coney Island

BOSTON, Aug. 28, 2011 – According to catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide, Irene deviated slightly from the NHC forecast track yesterday, taking a slight westward shift before resuming its north-northeast direction. This brought the center of the storm into New Jersey, near Little Egg Inlet, for its second landfall at 5:30 am this morning. Sustained winds, as reported by the NHC, were 75 mph. “It is worth noting, however, that as yet there have been no onshore wind observations of greater than tropical storm force since Irene made landfall near…

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Irene Becomes First Hurricane of the 2011 Atlantic Hurricane Season

According to catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide, Irene became the Atlantic basin’s first hurricane of the 2011 season when its winds strengthened to 75 miles per hour at about 5:00 AM Monday morning as it was exiting Puerto Rico’s northern coast. Currently a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale with sustained winds of 80 mph, Irene is expected to strengthen further over the next few days, potentially reaching Category 3 status by Saturday, depending on how long it remains over the ocean. “Hurricane Irene is the ninth…

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