After 12 days and 49 advisories, Philippe has finally intensified into hurricane, becoming the fifth hurricane of the 2011 Atlantic hurricane season. The fifth hurricane normally arrives on October 7, so this is a very average season for hurricanes, despite the fact it is already the 7th busiest season since record keeping began in 1851 for number of tropical storms – sixteen.

Rob Lightbown of Crown Weather warns of “tropical or sub-tropical development in either the western Caribbean or in the Gulf of Mexico this weekend and this has the potential to affect much of Florida and the US East Coast with heavy rain, strong winds and rough seas starting this weekend in Florida and continuing into next week as this system travels up the US East Coast…… it is of my opinion that we will see a tropical or sub-tropical system develop somewhere between Key West, Florida and the western tip of Cuba on Saturday night or Sunday. This tropical/sub-tropical storm is then forecast to lift northward into the eastern Gulf of Mexico on Monday before it becomes entrained into a frontal system by about Wednesday and is lifted northeastward up the US East Coast late next week.

“If this weren’t enough, the long range European and GFS models are hinting that a second tropical cyclone may form in the western Caribbean towards the end of next week and into next weekend.”

For the full weather discussion and the latest on Hurricane Philippe go to Crown Weather Services at www.crownweather.com and to the National Hurricane Center at www.nhc.noaa.gov. We wish to thank Crown Weather for the permission to use their graphics and information. Please support them.