[dennis1x]

looking like Isabel may spin down to borderline cat 1/trop storm based on latest from NHC of 80-85mph sustained winds currently and still no deep core convection to speak of. big key to watch for now is still the satellite shots.....a flare up of colder cloudtops could lead to rapid strengthening....without it the "engine" of the hurricane will continue to be starved and weakening proceeds.

also...with current make up of the storm...the heaviest rains may actually be found in the feeder bands..there is not much in the way of heavy rains in the core of the storm.

[dennis1x]

link to a great satellite shot....notice the few specs of red...typically in a hurricane this particular satellite shot has a ring of red around the core....

definitely something to watch for....for the last 24 hour no red (colder cloudtops) have been noted.....a sign of strengthening would be a sustained flareup represented in the shot as brighter colors.

unfortunately..this will be one of the last shot from the satellite (or an other weather satellites) for a couple hours as the nightly "eclipse" takes place (earth between sats and sun..no power) so we cant monitor this latest possible flareup.

[Interesting Times]

looking like Isabel may spin down to borderline cat 1/trop storm based on latest from NHC of 80-85mph sustained winds currently and still no deep core convection to speak of.

The convection remains light, but it still has winds. As for the previous flight, I doubt they're finding the top winds every time in a system of this size...

URNT12 KNHC 180401
VORTEX DATA MESSAGE
A. 18/0400Z
B. 32 DEG 06 MIN N
73 DEG 55 MIN W
C. 700 MB 2703 M
D. NA
E. NA
F. 137 DEG 109 KT
G. 043 DEG 050 NM
H. 955 MB
I. 14 C/ 3068 M
J. 16 C/ 3081 M
K. 13 C/ NA
L. OPEN S-SW
M. C30
N. 12345/7
O. .1 /1 NM
P. AF977 2313A ISABEL OB 23
MAX FL WIND 109 KT NE QUAD 0346Z.