Maria Makes Her Appearance. Death Tolls Rise Elsewhere.

The September 7th overview of the North Atlantic from the National Hurricane Centre shows two red storms apart from Hurricane Katia:

North Atlantic tropical cyclone activity at 10:57 AM on Wednesday September 7th 2011

The newly named Tropical Storm Maria has just appeared, currently heading in the general direction of the Caribbean and the United States. According to the latest public advisory about Maria from the NHC:

YET ANOTHER TROPICAL STORM IN THE ATLANTIC. SATELLITE IMAGES INDICATE THAT THE TROPICAL DEPRESSION IN THE TROPICAL ATLANTIC HAS INTENSIFIED AND IS NOW TROPICAL STORM MARIA, THE 13TH NAMED STORM OF THE 2011 HURRICANE SEASON. AT 1500 UTC THE CENTER OF TROPICAL STORM MARIA WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 13.0 NORTH, LONGITUDE 42.0 WEST. MARIA IS MOVING TOWARD THE WEST NEAR 23 MPH AND THIS GENERAL MOTION IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE DURING THE NEXT TWO DAYS.

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS HAVE INCREASED TO NEAR 50 MPH WITH HIGHER GUSTS. SOME SLIGHT STRENGTHENING IS POSSIBLE DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS.

In the Gulf of Mexico there is also a new "Area 1", about which the NHC has this to say:

A BROAD AREA OF LOW PRESSURE LOCATED OVER THE EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN GULF OF MEXICO IS SHOWING SOME SIGNS OF ORGANIZATION. ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS APPEAR FAVORABLE FOR DEVELOPMENT AND THIS SYSTEM COULD BECOME A TROPICAL DEPRESSION DURING THE NEXT DAY OR SO. THIS SYSTEM HAS A HIGH CHANCE, 60 PERCENT, OF BECOMING A TROPICAL CYCLONE AS IT MOVES LITTLE DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS.

A bit further north in the Atlantic ocean Hurricane Katia is still there, and she has thankfully not caused any deaths so far. According to the latest public advisory about Katia from the NHC:

ON THE FORECAST TRACK THE CORE OF KATIA IS EXPECTED TO MOVE BETWEEN THE EAST COAST OF THE UNITED STATES AND BERMUDA TONIGHT AND THURSDAY.

LARGE SWELLS GENERATED BY KATIA WILL CONTINUE TO AFFECT MOST OF THE EAST COAST OF THE UNITED STATES, BERMUDA, THE GREATER ANTILLES AND EAST-FACING BEACHES OF THE BAHAMAS DURING THE NEXT FEW DAYS. THESE SWELLS ARE LIKELY TO CAUSE LIFE-THREATENING SURF AND RIP CURRENT CONDITIONS.

TROPICAL-STORM-FORCE WINDS, ESPECIALLY IN GUSTS, ARE POSSIBLE IN BERMUDA THROUGH THURSDAY.

KATIA IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE TOTAL RAIN ACCUMULATIONS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES ACROSS BERMUDA.

Just the sort of thing the world's best surfers are hoping for at Long Beach in fact.

However elsewhere on the planet recent tropical storms have not been so benevolent. In Japan the Mainichi Daily News reports that:

The death toll from Typhoon Talas that hit western Japan over the weekend rose to 48 in nine prefectures and the number of missing totaled 56 in 10 prefectures as of Tuesday night. The total number of dead or missing has risen to 104, meaning the final toll could surpass that from Typhoon Tokage, which left a total of 98 people dead or missing in October 2004.

In the Philippines the NDRRMC report today that following Typhoon Nanmadol:

The current total number of population affected is 95,540 families (403,193 people).

The cumulative number of population served inside 116 evacuation centers is 3,869 families / 17,716 persons and outside those centers is 51,614 families / 209,730 persons.

Casualties include 35 dead and 37 injured.

After battering the Philippines Typhoon Nanmadol moved on via Taiwan to China, where the People's Daily Online now reports that:

Bullet trains have been slowed or stopped as tropical storm Nanmadol continues to bring heavy rains and winds to east China's Fujian Province, local authorities said.

A mudslide triggered by heavy rains occurred at 6:25 a.m. Thursday near a section of railway connecting the city of Putian to Xianyou County. The affected section was repaired by 9 a.m., with speeds of passing bullet trains slowed to accommodate repairs, according to authorities from the Fuzhou Train Station.

As of 4:00 p.m. Thursday, Nanmadol's arrival has caused two deaths, left six missing, and forced the evacuations of 198,000 people in Fujian Province.

The storm has leveled more than 300 houses and damaged another 1,700 in Fujian with a direct economic loss of 130 million yuan (about 20 million U.S. dollars), according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

According to MSNBC the number of deaths attributed to Hurricane Irene in the United States has risen to:

At least 44

According to Wikipedia at least 8 deaths in the Caribbean can also be attributed to Irene, which for some reason MSNBC neglected to mention.