Inland Tropical Storm Erin
October 24, 2007
Provided by: Lee Grenci, Department of Meteorology, Penn State University
Summary authors & editors: Lee Grenci
This composite image of radar reflectivity at 1045Z on August 19, 2007 (bottom image), shows the "ghost" of Tropical Storm Erin re-intensifying over Oklahoma with an "eye-like" structure (see the link to Erin's track below). The meteogram at Watonga, which is part of the Oklahoma Mesonet, shows that the sustained wind speed met the minimum tropical-storm threshold of 35 knots (40.3 mph) for at least three hours. After making landfall in Texas, Erin gradually dissipated. But, as a mid-latitude trough at an altitude of approximately 5,500 meters (c. 18,000 ft) moved eastward from New Mexico (upper-air streamlines at top), and a southerly low-level jet blowing at an altitude of about 1,500 meters (c. 5,000 ft) delivered a surge of very humid air, the stage was set for a rare re-intensification over land. I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge the possible contributions of a wet spring and summer over the southern Plains to maintaining the high surface dew points that helped to fuel what I like to call, Inland Tropical Storm Erin.
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