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Tropical Storm Chris rapidly ran out of steam Thursday morning as it pushed across the eastern Caribbean, prompting forecasters to say it was unlikely to become a hurricane. At 8 a.m. EDT, Chris had top maximum sustained winds of 40 mph, just 1 mph above the minimum to be a named storm and down 20 mph from Wednesday night, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. The center of the storm was about 285 miles east-southeast of Grand Turk Island. The third named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season was moving west-northwest near 12 mph and was expected to...

Unpredictable Tropical Storm Chris was weakening Thursday morning after moving through the eastern Caribbean. Forecasters are now doubtful the storm will become the season's first hurricane after all, saying that the storm encountered upper level winds that stalled its development. Still, emergency managers in all the potentially affected areas were warning people to monitor the storm's progress. The path of the storm has been unpredictable. It could move into the Gulf on Monday. But forecasters said it was expected to continue to weaken and even dissipate over the next several days. The Bahamas downgraded its hurricane watch to a tropical...

Tropical Storm Chris loses steamHurricane watch discontinued in BahamasSAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- Tropical Storm Chris weakened slightly as it swept through the eastern Caribbean early Thursday, dumping rain on the Virgin Islands and prompting tourists to flee Puerto Rico's east coast.

Tropical Storm Chris will likely cross the threshold into the Gulf of Mexico as a hurricane early next week, possibly developing into the first serious threat this year to U.S. oil and natural gas facilities. As of 2 p.m. EDT, the center of the storm was about 100 miles northeast of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands and moving west-northwest at about 10 miles per hour, the National Hurricane Center said in an advisory. Maximum sustained winds are near 65 mph with higher gusts. "Chris could become a hurricane during the next 12 to 24 hours," the NHC said....

"TALLAHASSEE, FL -- Gov. Jeb Bush said Tuesday morning that the state is reviewing an emergency mass migration plan to thwart any potential rush of refugees should instability in Cuba grow along with doubts about dictator Fidel Castro's grip on power." ......"We're monitoring carefully what's going on there," Bush told reporters before a morning Cabinet meeting. "There's a lot of people in our state yearning for democracy and freedom in Cuba." ...Bush said beefed up Coast Guard patrols would turn back illegal immigrants, and urged Cubans not to leave the island nation. Any attempt could be disastrous now that Tropical...

It appears that the storm trajectory has been moved Northward. Sorry folks, I'm not to happy about this either... For all of us in SoFlo, no time to prepare like the present. At least this time I've got shutters ready. Here's to hoping that the front falls apart. This morning at 5:00AM: Last Night at 11:00PM:

BULLETIN TROPICAL STORM CHRIS SPECIAL ADVISORY NUMBER 5 NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL032006 530 PM AST TUE AUG 01 2006 ...CHRIS STRENGTHENS SOME MORE... A TROPICAL STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE ISLANDS OF ANTIGUA...BARBUDA...ANGUILLA...ST. KITTS...NEVIS...SABA...ST. EUSTATIUS...ST. BARTHELEMY...ST. MARTIN...AND ST. MAARTEN. A TROPICAL STORM WARNING MEANS THAT TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED WITHIN THE WARNING AREA WITHIN THE NEXT 12 TO 24 HOURS. A TROPICAL STORM WARNING IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR PUERTO RICO AND THE U.S. AND BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS. FOR STORM INFORMATION SPECIFIC TO YOUR AREA...INCLUDING POSSIBLE INLAND WATCHES AND WARNINGS...PLEASE MONITOR PRODUCTS ISSUED BY...

000 WTNT33 KNHC 010840 TCPAT3 BULLETIN TROPICAL STORM CHRIS ADVISORY NUMBER 2 NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL032006 500 AM AST TUE AUG 01 2006 ...TROPICAL DEPRESSION STRENGTHENS INTO TROPICAL STORM CHRIS... ...NEW TROPICAL STORM WARNINGS AND WATCHES ISSUED... AT 5 AM AST...0900 UTC...THE RESPECTIVE GOVERNMENTS HAVE ISSUED A TROPICAL STORM WARNING FOR THE ISLANDS OF ANTIGUA...BARBUDA... ANGUILLA...ST. KITTS... NEVIS...SABA...ST. EUSTATIUS... ST. BARTHELEMY...ST. MARTIN...AND ST. MAARTEN. A TROPICAL STORM WARNING MEANS THAT TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED WITHIN THE WARNING AREA WITHIN THE NEXT 12 TO 24 HOURS. AT 5 AM AST...A TROPICAL STORM WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR...