Think Of Laura (and Marco)

Believe it or else, boys and girls, the continental United States is expected to get hit by not one, but two tropical cyclones this coming week!

Tropical Storm Laura (above) formed from a depression out in the Atlantic Ocean, followed by Marco, which formed from a depression in the Caribbean Sea. Laura could be Category 1 hurricane by the time it makes landfall somewhere between Mobile and Pensacola and, Marco is expected to come ashore on the Texas coast as a tropical storm.  They are forecast to make landfall within a day of each other.

Marco won't affect the Northeast, obviously, but no one knows how Laura will affect areas beyond the South Central states.  Some projections have Laura going across land to Virginia Beach or North Carolina before going out to sea, others have it crossing the Delmarva Peninsula before doing so, and some projections even have it going over - HORRORS! - New Jersey, maybe over Cape May or over Burlington County by way of Philadelphia before going over open water.  But the likeliest fate for Laura is that it will lose a lot of steam going over Alabama and Tennessee before passing over areas north of parallel line 36°30 as a storm remnant.  That said, no one really knows how Laura or Marco will play out once over land.

When you think of Laura (and Marco), cry, don't laugh, because worse may come for all of us a couple of weeks later, as hurricane season peaks on September 10.  And we may not be out of the woods after that.  Sandy, remember, hit New Jersey two days before Halloween.

I'm only sorry I got Christopher Cross' last hit single stuck in your head.  In the meantime, it will be interesting to see how Trump handles a double tropical-cyclone strike in Republican states as he prepares to accept the GOP's presidential nomination.