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After a significant lull in the Atlantic Hurricane Season, the tropics are once again firing up. The National Hurricane Center is currently monitoring five separate systems in the Atlantic basin. By ABC11
Three named storms will churn in the Atlantic this week and two more systems are likely to develop into depressions or tropical storms, forecasters said Monday.
Tropical storms Emily and Franklin formed Sunday from systems that forecasters had been watching in the Atlantic. As of Monday, NOAA predicted that both will turn away before coming close enough to the Southeastern United States to have a significant effect on North Carolina.
Tropical Storm Emily Tropical Storm
Emily, with sustained 40 mph winds, should turn and move north-northwest into the central Atlantic through the week, keeping it well off the U.S. coast. Emily’s winds are expected to weaken by Monday evening, NOAA said.
Tropical Storm Franklin
NOAA forecast maps show Franklin turning north Monday and approaching Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico on Monday night, passing across the islands on Tuesday with up to 60 mph winds. Forecast tracks show the storm then moving north and east into the Atlantic.
Tropical Storm Gert
Gert, which formed early Monday east-southeast of the Northern Leeward Islands, had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph. But but NOAA said the storm “is quickly unraveling” and should dissipate by Tuesday.
Two more, still developing
A fourth system in the eastern Atlantic is expected to become a tropical depression later this week as it moves west-northwest across the ocean, NOAA forecasters said. That system was producing showers and thunderstorms over the Cabo Verde Islands on Monday. A fifth system, this one in the Gulf of Mexico, is likely to become a tropical depression or storm before it reaches the Gulf Coast on Tuesday. Parts of southern Texas and northern Mexico may get tropical storm watches or warnings later Monday, NOAA said.
Busy hurricane season expected
Though the Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30, NOAA says most storms happen from mid-August to mid-October. Earlier this month, NOAA updated its prediction for the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season, calling for an “above normal” level of storm activity because of record-high temperatures in the ocean’s surface waters. Those temperatures are likely to offset the otherwise hurricane-suppressing effects of an ongoing El Niño, forecasters said. NOAA is now expecting 14 to 21 named storms, meaning a sustained wind speed of at least 39 mph. Six to 11 of those could become hurricanes, with winds of 74 mph or more, and two to five could become major hurricanes with winds of 111 mph or more. NOAA forecasters say they have 70% confidence in those ranges. The next two tropical storms would be named Harold and Idalia.
This story was originally published August 21, 2023, 11:16 AM.
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