Is hurricane season winding down?
We’ve reached the peak of hurricane season and you may be surprised to know that so far, there have been eight named storms. After a brief threat from Erika, the remaining storms have formed and then withered in the Atlantic ocean. Most of the continental U.S. has felt it’s first taste of fall – so, are tropical threats over as well? The answer is – maybe.
One of the reasons the tropics peak by early September is the same reason why a pot of water placed on a stove top doesn’t immediately boil when the burner is turned to high. Similarly, the oceans take months to warm and provide a ripe environment for tropical waves to grow and strengthen.
Typically, these are the tracks of storms that do form in September:
U.S. history is full of examples of memorable storms in the ninth month of the year, such as Donna, Carla, Camille, Ike and the September 8th hurricane that claimed over 8,000 lives on Galveston Island. This year, developing storms in the Atlantic have had a hard time overcoming high winds aloft, despite warm ocean water.
Here’s the current satellite image in the Atlantic showing a few waves circled in red that show some signs of developing over the next few days:
Even if either of these two do develop, they are expected to remain in the Atlantic and neither pose any threat to the U.S.
