Tropical Storm Sally departs drenched Florida

Season’s 20th tropical depression forms in Atlantic

Tropical Storm Sally passed over South Florida and headed on Saturday night for the Gulf Coast, where a hurricane watch went into effect from Louisiana to the Alabama/Florida border.

Sally is forecast to become a hurricane on Monday. At 5 p.m. Saturday, the tropical storm was moving westward at about 7 mph. A turn to the west/northwest is expected Saturday evening.

Sally’s center is forecast to move over the southeastern and eastern Gulf of Mexico tonight and Sunday, and then move over the north-central Gulf of Mexico Sunday night and Monday, according to the National Hurricane Center. Maximum sustained winds are near 40 mph.

Meanwhile, the recordsetting 2020 season’s 20th tropical depression formed in the central Atlantic Ocean.

The hurricane center is monitoring six storms in the Atlantic.

Rene, a tropical depression, had been expected to strengthen into the season’s fifth hurricane, but its top sustained winds dropped to 35 mph Saturday, the hurricane center said.

Tropical Storm Paulette became a hurricane on Saturday and was expected to bring hazardous conditions to Bermuda on Sunday night and into Monday, the hurricane center said. A tropical storm watch was issued late Friday for Bermuda.

Swells produced by the storm, potentially causing life-threatening surf and rip current conditions, are expected to affect areas including the southeast U.S. this weekend.

As of 5 p.m. Saturday, a hurricane warning was in e f f e c t f o r B e r mu d a a s Paulette was moving toward the northwest at about 15 mph. A turn toward the north with a decrease in speed is forecast on Monday, followed by a move to the northeast Monday night and Tuesday. The center of Paulette is expected to move near or over Bermuda Monday morning. Maximum sustained winds are near 70 mph with higher gusts.

Three to 6 inches of rain are expected. The center said Paulette will be “a dangerous hurricane” when it gets close to Bermuda Sunday night and Monday.

“Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion,” the hurricane center warned.

Paulette and Rene, the season’s 16th and 17 named storms, both formed in the Atlantic on Monday. Models indicate the storms’ tracks will pose no threat to Florida or the United States.

The 5 p.m. advisory from the hurricane center said a new depression over the central Atlantic Ocean was expected to become Tropical Storm Teddy by Sunday night. It was moving westnorthwest at about 9 mph and is expected to increase in speed early next week.

This is the time of year when storms tend to form in the open Atlantic, particularly near the Cabo Verde Is l a n d s. T h e s e storms, which grow in size and intensity as they make the long trek westward across the Atlantic Ocean, are historically the most powerful and destructive hurricanes.

So far, there have been 18 tropical storms and four hurricanes this season, which runs from June 1-Nov. 30.

Laura was the season’s first major hurricane, making landfall in Cameron, La., as a Category 4 on Aug. 27. Hanna, Isaias and Marco were Category 1 hurricanes that made landfall in Padre

Island, Texas; Ocean Isle Beach, N.C.; and at the mouth of the Mississippi River.

Paulette, Rene and Sally set records for earliest “P”, “R” and “S” storms in any Atlantic hurricane season, breaking the record held by Philippe, Rita and Stanback in 2005, according to Colorado State University meteorologist Phil Klotzbach.

Klotzbach said that with Paulette, Sally and the depression each forecast to reach hurricane strength by Sept. 15, the Atlantic would have eight hurricanes by that early date. Only 3 years on record have had eight Atlantic hurricanes by Sept. 15: 1893, 2005, 2012.

The remaining monikers for named storms this season in the Atlantic are: Vicky and Wilfred. Any storms after Wilfred would be named after letters in the Greek alphabet. That has only happened once — in the 2005 hurricane season, according to The Weather Channel.

The tropical weather experts at Colorado State University predicted that 2020 could possibly be the second-busiest season on record, behind only 2005, the year that produced Katrina and Wilma. In August, the federal government issued an updated forecast for the season, predicting as many as 25 storms, which is more than the agency has ever forecast.