A record three tropical storms form within a 24-hour period
The breakneck pace of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season claimed another record on Friday after three tropical storms formed within a 24-hour period, hitting fast-forward on the National Hurricane Center’s adoption of the Greek alphabet for storm names.
First came Tropical Storm Wilfred in the Atlantic around 11 a.m., then Subtropical Storm Alpha near Portugal at 12:30 p.m. Tropical Storm Beta, in the Gulf of Mexico, broke the record around 5 p.m.
For just the second time, tropical storms and hurricanes will be named after Greek letters, a backup list that the National Hurricane Center first turned to when it exhausted its alphabetical list in 2005.
NOAA’s midseason prediction called for 19 to 25 named storms this season, and Beta is number 23. The record for most storms in one season is 27 in 2005.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic, Hurricane Teddy, a powerful Category 4 storm, continued to move toward Bermuda. Also on forecasters’ radar: Post-tropical cyclone Paulette might reform in the faraway Atlantic, and a new tropical wave could move off the west coast of Africa by early Saturday.
TROPICAL STORM WILFRED FORMS, ALPHA FOLLOWS
As of the 5 p.m. update, Wilfred was pointed in the general direction of the Bahamas and the East Coast of the U.S., but forecasters predicted it would diminish to a depression as soon as Monday and then dissipate.
It was moving fast at 18 mph and packing 40 mph winds. The hurricane center said Wilfred could strengthen more than predicted in the next few days, but then a large upper-level trough would set in and break it apart with increased wind shear.
Subtropical Storm Alpha formed just after noon, according to a 12:30 p.m. update. The storm was so close to Portugal’s coast it barely showed on the hurricane center’s map of the Atlantic basin.
Earlier Friday, forecasters pegged the disturbance’s chances of forming anytime soon at 20%, but the fast-moving subtropical storm made landfall with 45 mph winds Friday evening.
The hurricane center said Alpha is expected to dissolve into a depression as soon as Saturday.
TROPICAL STORM BETA BREAKS RECORD
Tropical Storm Beta formed Friday afternoon hours after Wilfred and Alpha, marking the first time three named storms formed within a 24-hour period. The previous record was three storms forming within a 30-hour period, in August 1993, when Humberto, Iris and Jerry formed, tweeted Tomer Burg, an atmospheric science Ph.D. student at the University of Oklahoma.
As of 5 p.m. Beta had 40 mph winds and was headed north-northeast at 9 mph.
The latest track shows Beta heading north for a few days before making a hard left toward Texas’ westernmost coast on Saturday when it encounters a midlevel ridge.
“This ridge should act as a Beta blocker, causing the storm to turn westward toward the western Gulf coast,” forecasters wrote.
By Sunday it could be a Category 1 hurricane, but the forecast calls for the storm to weaken back to a tropical storm before scraping along the Texas coast for a few days.
The hurricane center cautioned that it was too soon to tell what impact the storm could have, considering its curvy path.
“While the guidance agrees with this general sense of the motion, there are a lot of differences in the models on the when’s and where’s of the various turns,” they wrote.
Forecasters say it’s also too early to tell which areas could see direct wind, storm surge and rainfall from this system, though they are expecting swells to increase and reach the coast of Texas and along the Gulf coast of Mexico over the weekend, possibly causing life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.
While there are no coastal watches or warnings in effect yet, forecasters are asking those with interests in the western Gulf of Mexico to continue monitoring the storm’s progress.
Hurricane scientists didn’t learn as much as they planned about this storm ahead of the afternoon advisory, because the Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft scheduled to investigate it had to turn back after getting hit by lightning.
HOW STRONG WILL HURRICANE TEDDY BE WHEN IT NEARS BERMUDA?
Bermuda issued a tropical storm watch Friday evening as Hurricane Teddy, now a Category 3 storm, continued its path toward the island. As of the 8 p.m. update it had maximum sustained winds near 125 mph with higher gusts and was about 770 miles southeast of Bermuda.
However, Teddy was also expected to weaken to a Category 2 by the time it approaches Bermuda this weekend, according to the hurricane center.
“After 24 hours, the hurricane is forecast to cross cooler waters churned up by Paulette last week. This should cause a slow weakening trend to begin,” forecasters said.
From Bermuda, it could head toward Nova Scotia as a powerful extra-tropical cyclone.
THE RETURN OF PAULETTE?
Paulette, which struck Bermuda as a Category 2 hurricane last week before rocketing off to colder waters, might make a comeback. As of the 8 p.m. update, forecasters said the post-tropical cyclone is due to move quickly southward for the next few days and then stall over “marginally” warmer waters.
“The cyclone could redevelop tropical characteristics late this weekend or early next week while it moves little,” forecasters said.
The hurricane center gave Paulette a 30% chance of reforming in the next two days and 40% in the next five.
The hurricane center is also watching another tropical wave that has yet to roll off the coast of Africa. They said it had no chance of developing in the next two days but a 20% shot at strengthening in the next five days.