Tropical disturbance forms, fizzles in Atlantic
The National Hurricane Center issued its first advisory of the year on Wednesday, a month before the official start of the Atlantic hurricane season. The advisory was issued for a tropical disturbance that was far out to sea and has since dissipated, the hurricane center said late Wednesday.
The otherwise nondescript system was notable for being the first sign of what’s expected to be a ferocious hurricane season in the Atlantic, with potentially dozens of storms. One group from the University of Pennsylvania predicted a record-breaking 33 named storms this year.
The most active year on record was 2020, when 30 storms formed. A typical season sees 14 storms.
Forecasters cite unusually warm ocean water as one factor. Hurricanes and tropical storms gain their power from warm ocean water.
“We’ve seen many hyperactive seasons over the past decade, and in just about all cases, like our prediction for this year, the activity is substantially driven by ever-warmer conditions in the tropical Atlantic tied to large-scale warming,” said University of Pennsylvania meteorologist Michael Mann, who led the research group.
Other teams, such as AccuWeather and Colorado State University, are also predicting above-normal hurricane activity this year.
The disturbance was in the Atlantic Ocean, about 900 miles northwest of the Cabo Verde Islands, on Wednesday, the hurricane center said. It had produced “a small but persistent area of showers and thunderstorms to the east of its center since Wednesday morning.” The system later dissipated.
The center will issue daily tropical outlooks beginning May 15, unless a disturbance worth monitoring appears earlier in the Atlantic basin, which covers the northern Atlantic, the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.
A special tropical outlook will be issued – as was the case Wednesday – if something develops ahead of May 15.
The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season officially starts June 1. However, “preseason” storms have formed with regularity in May over the past decade.
This year, the first hurricane name will be Alberto.
Contributing: Cheryl McCloud, USA TODAY NETWORK