UPDATE: This is now TS Elsa. The National Hurricane Center has started to send out alerts for Potential Tropical Cyclone 5, which is out in the Atlantic Ocean and has a 90 percent chance of becoming a named storm in the next five days. The model runs are all over the place, with potential landfalls from Texas to North Carolina, but it is a pretty good bet that it will hit somewhere in the Southeast by midweek after the 4th of July weekend. The only place that is currently in the 5-day cone is the southern tip of Florida, but that is likely to change as the storm becomes more organized and the models get a better handle on it. Most models are holding it at a tropical storm or perhaps a Cat 1 hurricane for now. At this point, all we can do is watch, but if you have activities next week that could be affected by a tropical storm or hurricane such as farm work, field days, outdoor camps, or other events, you will want to be sure to pay attention to the forecasts over the weekend. I will continue to post on this blog as well as on Facebook at SEAgClimate and on Twitter at @Se_AgClimate.
