Hurricane Linda Strengthens Back to Cat. 2

Hurricane Linda strengthened back to Category 2 on the Saffir-Simpson Scale on Tuesday night. At 11:00 p.m. EDT on Tuesday the center of Hurricane Linda was located at latitude 17.9°N and longitude 129.5°W which put it about 1315 miles (2115 km) west-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California. Linda was moving toward the west at 12 m.p.h. (19 km/h). The maximum sustained wind speed was 105 m.p.h. (165 km/h) and there were wind gusts to 125 m.p.h. (200 km/h). The minimum surface pressure was 975 mb.

The circulation around Hurricane Linda continued to be very symmetrical. A large, circular was present at the center of Linda. The eye was surrounded by a ring of strong thunderstorms and the strongest winds were occurring in that ring of storms. Bands of showers and a few thunderstorms were revolving around the core of Hurricane Linda. Storms near the core generated upper level divergence that pumped mass away from the hurricane. Winds to hurricane force extended out 30 miles (50 km) from the center of Linda. Winds to tropical storm force extended out 90 miles (145 km) from the center of circulation.

Hurricane Linda will move through an environment that will become more unfavorable for a strong hurricane during the next several days. Linda will move over water where the Sea Surface Temperatures are near 25°C. It will move through a region where the upper level winds are weak and there will be little vertical wind shear. Cooler water will supply less energy for Hurricane Linda and it will weaken. However, symmetrical hurricanes tend to be nearly in balance with their environment. Since there will be little vertical wind shear, Hurricane Linda is likely to weaken very gradually at first. Linda will move into a region where there is more vertical wind shear later this week and it will weaken faster when that happens.

Hurricane Linda will move south of a subtropical high pressure system over the Eastern North Pacific Ocean during the next few days. The high pressure system will steer Linda toward the west-northwest. On its anticipated track Hurricane Linda will continue to move toward the Central Pacific. Linda could be northeast of Hawaii by the weekend.