The Atlantic is brimming with storms right now as peak hurricane season nears
The Atlantic is elbow room only at the moment.
Seriously, storms are quite literally running into one another out there. Some are even rising from the ashes. While Floridians along the west coast are recovering from Hurricane Idalia’s destruction, forecasters were watching six areas of interest in the tropical Atlantic on Friday.
To save your frazzled nerves, let’s get this out of the way: None poses an immediate threat to Florida.
Let’s break it down.
Idalia is now a post-tropical cyclone that will likely bring tropical storm conditions to Bermuda on Saturday. Hurricane Franklin, not far away in the northern Atlantic, is going to crash into little Tropical Storm Jose, and absorb it like Pac-Man chomping down on a ghost.
Also in the central Atlantic are the remnants of Tropical Storm Gert, which has reanimated into a tropical depression. Off near Africa, Tropical Depression 12 is moving north (which could become Tropical Storm Katia), and right near that system is an area where forecasters expect a tropical wave to pop up in the next seven days. Forecasters are giving that area a 50/50 chance of development in the next week.
Need to catch your breath?
Peak hurricane season — Sept. 10 ― is right around the corner. Colorado State University, a school with a renowned tropical weather and climate research team, is anticipating a 70% chance of above-average Atlantic hurricane activity over the next two weeks. Forecasters said the ECMWF (also known as the European model) Ensemble Prediction System is “quite aggressive for Atlantic Main Development Region” formation in the next two weeks.
“The signal has only gotten stronger over the past couple of days, giving us increased confidence in this forecast,” an update from the university said Thursday.
Ross Giarratana, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Tampa Bay office, said it’s not abnormal to have this much activity so close to peak season. This time of the year is when all the elements for tropical activity fall into place.
“This is really the time of year where just everything comes together as far as ocean temperatures and drier air off the Saharan starts to ease,” Giarratana said.
For now, Giarratana said the hurricane center is not tracking any system that poses a threat to Florida. However, he said the hurricane season runs until Nov. 30, meaning we’re still months from the end. He warned people to continue keeping up with the tropics.
“Sometimes after a big event, sometimes people assume ‘oh, we must be done now,’ but still three months remain,” Giarratana said.
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