Hurricane Rina storm force wind projections as of 7 AM EDT. Click image for latest form the National Hurricane Center

A tropical cyclone has sprung up just off the tip of the Yucatan peninsula which could pose a threat to Florida early next week. Hurricane Rina intensified surprisingly fast, from a minimal low pressure system to a full-blown hurricane in the space of one day. Only Hurricane Humberto in 2007 beat Rina out of the gate, going from tropical depression to minimal hurricane in roughly 12 hours.

Sea surface temperatures have waned a bit from their seasonal summer highs, but there is plenty of heat content in large sections of the gulf to sustain a major hurricane. One place Rina is not forecast to end up is the drought plagued Texas coast. The high pressure system dominating Texas has sucked the land dry and dropped lake levels dozens of feet, but it does have the redeeming feature of pushing large storm systems away.