Tropical wave organizing in mid-Atlantic as Hanna downgraded to tropical depression

Robin Webb, Steve Svekis, Brooke Baitinger and Austen Erblat, Sun Sentinel
·2 min read

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A cluster of storms over the Atlantic Ocean increased its likeliness of development into a tropical depression or tropical storm as Hurricane Hanna was downgraded to a tropical storm near the Texas-Mexico border.

An organizing tropical wave moving westward in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean has a 90% chance of developing into a tropical storm or tropical depression over the next five days.

It’s too early to tell if the wave will affect South Florida. For this week, the weather forecast calls for heavy thunderstorms in South Florida, according to the National Weather Service. Temperatures will range from a low of about 78 degrees to highs of about 90.

The tropical wave was just more than 1,000 miles west-southwest of the Cabo Verde Islands and producing a large area of cloudiness and disorganized showers and thunderstorms. Environmental conditions appear conducive for development, and a tropical depression is likely to form by Tuesday while the wave continues moving west at 15 to 20 mph across the tropical Atlantic.

The NHC gave the system a 80% chance of formation in the next 48 hours, and 90% chance of it occurring in the next five days.

It is the latest focal point of an already-busy hurricane season that has produced eight named storms. The next named storm will be Isaias.

What was Tropical Storm Hanna dissipated into a tropical depression over Mexico, according to the 5 p.m. Sunday public advisory from the National Hurricane Center. It was moving at about 9 mph an hour and was about 35 miles west of Monterrey, Mexico.

Hanna made landfall on Padre Island, Texas, at 6 p.m. Saturday, as a strong Category 1 hurricane.

There have been four tropical storms so far this month: Edouard, Fay, Gonzalo and Hanna. Other named storms this year have included Arthur, Bertha, Cristobal and Dolly. Tropical Storm Arthur formed in mid-May, making this the sixth straight year that a named storm formed before the official start of hurricane season on June 1.

Virtually all estimates for this hurricane season predict an above-average number of storms, due to unusually warm ocean temperatures and global climate factors that are likely to reduce the high-altitude winds that can prevent the formation of hurricanes. On July 8, Colorado State University issued a slightly more pessimistic outlook for hurricane season than its earlier forecast, upping the number of named storms from 19 to 20.

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