Hurricane Season Started Two Weeks Ago. Where Are the Storms?

New York Times

2 days ago

The Atlantic hurricane season, which experts have warned is likely to have an above-average number of storms, has gotten off to a quiet start. Not a single tropical storm has formed since the season began on June 1.
That is typical.
The exact date of the first named Atlantic storm varies, and in nearly half of the last 20 years, it has arrived even before June 1. But on average, it forms around June 20; last year, Alberto formed on June 19. In 2009, it wasn't until Aug. 11 that the first storm, Ana, finally appeared.
But one usually arrives before the end of the month, and Phil Klotzbach, a hurricane expert at Colorado State University, said it was unclear when this year's first storm would form.
Here's a look at what's going on.
A storm gets a name when its sustained winds reach 39 miles per hour, and it becomes a Category 1 hurricane when they reach 74 m.p.h.
A key ingredient for that is warm ocean waters, with temperatures at 80 degrees or above, and Jason Dunion, a meteorologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said many locations across the Atlantic had not quite reached that threshold.
'The waters are still warming, and they're actually a little bit cooler than last year, so we're not seeing some of those record temperatures,' Mr. Dunion said. Sea surface temperatures set records last year, which also made hurricanes more likely to rapidly intensify and become more destructive.
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