Forecasters closely monitor two more potential tropical systems in an extremely warm Atlantic

Boston Globe

13 hours ago

According to the National Hurricane Center, the first major hurricane would typically form in early September; this year, that occurred in mid-August.
NHC
Forecasters are closely monitoring two other tropical systems in the Atlantic. The National Hurricane Center said a tropical disturbance in Erin's wake in the central Atlantic has a decent chance of developing into a tropical depression by the weekend, while another disturbance, Invest 99L, located off the western coast of Africa, has a lower chance of developing into an organized storm.
Early and late in the hurricane season, more storms form in the Gulf and in the Western Caribbean. But as we continue through August and into September, we have more of those storms that form off the coast of Africa and then move westward toward the United States. The track of hurricanes is determined by high pressure that sits out in the Atlantic. Depending on the configuration of that high, the storms can either wrap around and move northward between the East Coast and Bermuda, similar to what we're seeing with Erin this week. But if the high-pressure system is anchored differently, the storms can be funneled toward the Gulf Coast or even the Eastern Seaboard.
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Tropical development shifts east as the season progresses and then south and west deeper in the fall.
NOAA
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This year, the
The forecast is for up to five major hurricanes this year, with as many as 18 named storms, which include tropical systems.
NOAA
The season itself ramps up very quickly from this point forward, with the statistical peak on Sept. 10. From there, things taper off fairly quickly through the rest of September into October as the waters of the Atlantic cool. Hurricane season does not officially end until Nov. 30.
For us here in New England, we still have not had a hurricane reach the shores of the area
The number of hurricane strikes by counties here in the Northeast is highest over Cape Cod and the Islands.
NHC
Even if we don't have a hurricane, a tropical storm can still bring plenty of damage. The remnants of Sandy in 2012 and the remnants of Irene the year before both brought significant flooding, tree damage, and power outages to the Northeast. Even though these storms were not officially hurricanes when they reached our latitude, they still were formidable weather events. You can see the many hurricane strikes, below, that occurred from Texas up through Cape Cod from 1900 to 2010.
There have been many hurricanes to hit the US, from Texas to Massachusetts, since 1950.
NCEI
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