Harbinger Wind

After threatening to follow a path that some projections showed would send it through the heart of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, Hurricane Alex weakened into a topical depression which broke up over central Mexico this week. Alex peaked on Wednesday as a Category 2 storm which forced the temporary closure of more than 20 percent of domestic crude oil output and delayed ongoing efforts to clean and contain oil spewing from the nearby Macando well. While the storm seems to have spared the Gulf of Mexico the worst of what was feared for it, Hurricane Alex serves as a warning that the region will likely confront significant weather-related challenges before the hurricane season reaches its height in September. Download here