The tropics are active...

For the first time in recorded history, a hurricane from the Atlantic and one from the Pacific made landfall on the same day. Hurricane Henriette made landfall on the Baja California coast and Hurricane Felix made landfall in Nicaragua. Felix is the Atlantic storm that struck as a Category 5 storm and then rapidly weakened throughout the day. However, it remains a major rainmaker and could cause catastropic flash flooding and mudslides across parts of Central America. The very heavy rain is expected to impact much of Honduras and Guatemala.

Meanwhile, back home we're keeping a close eye on a disturbance off the Southeast coast. This system is becoming a bit more organized and despite the fact conditions are only marginal for development, the National Hurricane Center is monitoring the situation, as it could become a tropical or subtropical cyclone over the next couple of days. Even though the disturbance has been drifting east today, our computer model data suggests that it will turn back west-northwest and could impact the East Coast of the U.S. over the upcoming weekend. Right now, the favored track takes the storm along the Outer Banks of North Carolina by Sunday and then north along the coast. The exact track will determine what effects we see here in Central Virginia, but beware that this could be a significant rain and even wind maker later in the weekend. Obviously a lot of eyes are on the forecast for Saturday night, with the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 taking place at RIR. At this point, we're hopeful any rain would hold off in the Metro Richmond area until after the race.

Check back for updates on the developing situation off the Atlantic coast. In the mean time, we'll enjoy some very nice late summer weather the next couple of days, with ample sunshine and afternoon highs in the upper 80s to around 90 degrees.