though i expect it will find itself sometime during it's trek of the caribbean and gain a poleward component

You type that, and Earl just put out one of the best visible cloud bursts I've seen from a sat pic. Talk about high and cold, wow. 1515 utc vis. Holy smokes. Came right on top of Grenada, and their winds went WSW with thunderstorms. Wind was ENE, calm, and WSW over their last three obs. Now that makes me wonder if the LLC is further north then we think? Moving kinda quick for that, but who knows this season. The old rules are getting a run for their money, making new ones everyday it seems.