Weather forecasters monitoring THREE potential hurricanes that could hit the US in September
Three potential hurricanes could hit the United States in September, after the first hurricane-free stretch throughout most of July and all of August in 40 years.
The nearest storm as of Monday was described by the National Hurricane Center as being in the Central Tropical Atlantic, and they estimate the chance of it becoming a hurricane within five days at 80 percent.
Two more follow: one 600 miles east of Bermuda as of 2pm EDT on Monday, given a 10 percent chance of becoming a hurricane, and the third off the west coast of Africa, given a 30 percent chance of strengthening to a hurricane in the next five days.
A fourth storm is being monitored, heading towards Mexico‘s Yucatan Peninsula, but is not expected to hit the U.S.
The last named storm to hit the U.S. was Tropical Storm Colin, which landed in the Carolinas on July 2.
Four storms are currently in the Atlantic – three of them potentially headed towards the U.S.
Pictured is the storm currently in the Central Tropical Atlantic, with an estimated chance of it becoming a hurricane within five days at 80 percent
This time last year, the U.S. had endured Tropical Storm Fred, which hit Florida on August 16 and spawned 31 tornadoes from Georgia to Massachusetts, and Hurricane Henri, which slammed into New England on August 22, flooding large swathes of the coast.
On August 29, 2021, Hurricane Ida made landfall near Port Fourchon, Louisiana, with sustained winds of 150 mph – tying the state record for the strongest landfall speeds felt with the 1856 Last Island hurricane and Hurricane Laura of 2020.
Philip Klotzbach, a hurricane researcher at Colorado State University, noted that it is the first time since 1982 that there has not been a single named storm anywhere in the Atlantic between July 3 and the penultimate week of August.
Hurricane Henri slammed into New England in August 2021. Pictured are the remnants of the storm in Milford, Connecticut, on August 23, 2021
Rescuers are seen in Helmetta, New Jersey, after Henri hit on August 22, 2021
Floodwaters slowly recede in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida in Lafitte, Louisiana – about 25 miles south of New Orleans – on September 1, 2021
The phenomena has happened five other times since 1950, making a quiet stretch this long leading up to peak season a roughly once-a-decade event.
Accuweather senior meteorologist Dan Pydynowski told USA Today it was still possible that August would have a named storm.
‘Will we get through the end of the day Wednesday (without a named storm)? It’s probably going to be a close call,’ Pydynowski said.
Accuweather’s forecast predicts 16 named storms this season: two above the average, but five fewer than in 2021.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts six to 10 Atlantic hurricanes compared with the norm of seven, and they can come quickly in September, when ocean water is at its warmest.
‘You don’t want people to let their guard down,’ said Pydynowski.
‘Just because we haven’t had any storms yet doesn’t mean we won’t.
‘And it’s not necessarily the number of storms that counts.
‘It’s: does the storm hit the U.S., and if it does, what is the intensity when it does so?’
