The stormy feature in the West Indies has formed into a named storm, and it is Matthew. Matthew is expected to remain as a tropical storm as it follows the North Honduras coast and dissipates over the central Yucatan. Well, it is possible that it will jump the isthmus and do something interesting in the Pacific, or reform in the gulf, but it is too early to say.
Meanwhile, Lisa continues to be one of the least interesting storms ever, and is expected to dissipate before Tuesday evening.
Meanwhile, the ITCZ is very active with lots of storms and low pressure, but not the best conditions in terms of wind sheer. Nothing at the moment seems to be forming over land in Africa. Perhaps we'll see a shift of origins to the east for the remaining few hurricanes of the season.
Matthew waterlogged coffee and sugar farms in Guatemala on Saturday. The storm wasn't as forceful as it came in from the Gulf of Honduras, winds decreased to near 35 mph Saturday afternoon, but the U.S. National Hurricane Center isn't sure the danger is over. If Matthew keeps steady rain, farmers could face the problem of coffee and sugar plants not being ready to harvest. Sugar losses could be serious due to sugar fields being flooded, and coffee trees could face diseases and fungus from too much water.
How much damage would these storms cause if they were to hit land? Africa? Not too severe from what it sounds.
Where did the storm originally start? How far did it travel?
At what point does a tropical storm become a hurricane?