Forecasters looking at three tropical waves

Hurricane-season peak approaches

National Hurricane Center forecasters were watching three tropical waves moving west across the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea at the 5 p.m. advisory on Saturday.

Given the greatest chance of rapid development was a wave about 600 miles to the west of the Cape Verde Islands. The wave has a 60% chance of development in the next 48 hours and a 90% chance over the next five days.

Trailing that wave is another, inland over Senegal, that is expected to develop by the end of the week. That disturbance, has been given an 80% chance of development in the next five days.

Meanwhile, there is a tropical wave located a few hundred miles south of the Dominican Republic that has a 10% chance of developing the next five days.

If any of the systems maintain sustained winds of 39 mph, it would become the 16th named system of the 2020 hurricane season, which runs from June 1-Nov. 30. Earlier this summer, the National

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration updated its forecast predicting between 19 and 25 named storms.

This is the time of year when storms tend to form in the open Atlantic, particularly near the Cabo Verde Islands. Those 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.

There have been four other hurricanes so far this season: Hanna, Isaias, Laura, Marco and

Nana.

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, respectively.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Omar was downgraded to a tropical depression after encountering storm-weakening, upper-level winds over the open Atlantic as it moved east. The storm is not expected to threaten land.

The remaining monikers for named storms this season in the Atlantic are: Paulette, Rene, Sally, Teddy, Vicky and Wilfred.

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. 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.

NOAA A five-day graphical outlook of activity in the tropics as of 2 p.m. Saturday.