Either way, NHC looks like they don't want to name this thing a hurricane. The visible images this afternoon showed a well-defined eye+circulation, and higher cloud tops... I was pretty sure the 5 AST advisory would pin epsilon as cat. 1. They did move it to 70, but the satellite images and estimates thought we had hurricane number 14 too. Maybe NHC doesn't want to break every darn record in a season

However, the most recent ir/water vapor images show the south west of the storm being taken over by drier air (i think), and it'll be a "miracle of tropical cyclones" if it gets it's act together and becomes a 65 knotter.

Maybe cindy will be designated as a hurricane in the post analysis, and emily-possibly cat. 5?-Interesting stuff, those year-end reviews.