Sally gone, but Teddy now a Category 4 hurricane
Tropical Depression 22 forms in Gulf ofMexico
Even with Sally mostly gone, storm forecasters are busy watching four other systems in theAtlantic tropics.
That includes Hurricane Teddy, which is nowa powerful Category 4 hurricane, forecasters said.
Tropical Depression 22 formed Thursday night in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico. It could be a concern for the U.S. as it moves northeast into next week, the National Hurricane Center said in its first advisory on the depression.
As of 7 p.m. Thursday, the depression was 230 miles east of Tampico, Mexico. It had maximum sustained winds of 35 mph and was moving northeast at 5 mph. The forecast track has the depression curving toward Texas late Sunday or early nextweek.
If the depression becomes the next named storm, it would be Wilfred, the last name on the 21-name list of storm monikers for 2020. AfterWilfred, storm names will start with theGreek alphabet; thenext three named storms would be Alpha, Beta and Gamma. This has only ever happened once, in the recordshattering 2005 hurricane season that produced Katrina andWilma.
Hurricane Teddy’s top winds jumped up to 140 mph as the massive storm moved northwest over the open Atlantic on Thursday at 13 mph. At 5 p.m., the storm was about 579 miles northeast of the Lesser Antilles, a group of islands on the eastern rim of the Caribbean.
Forecasters expectTeddy to strengthen overnight, but start to weaken late this weekend. Its forecast track shows the hurricane could be a threat to Bermuda.
Teddy is a large storm, with hurricane-force winds extending outward up to 60 miles from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extending outward up to 230 miles.
As a result, huge swells are reaching the Lesser Antilles and the northeastern coast of South America, and may spread west to the Greater Antilles, the Bahamas, Bermuda, and the east coast of theUnited States by theweekend.
The swells will bring lifethreatening surf and rip current conditions, the hurricane center said.
Former Tropical Depression Vicky fizzled about 1,050 miles west-northwest of the Cabo Verde Islands on Thursday afternoon.
Forecasters with the NationalHurricane Center are also monitoring two other disturbances in the far Atlantic that may or may not develop.
A tropical wave located a few hundred miles off the west coast of Africa has a 50% chance of development as it moves west over the far eastern tropical Atlantic. It is forecast to become a tropical depression thisweek.
And a non-tropical area of low pressure formed Tuesday over the far northeastern Atlantic Ocean, several hundred miles northeast of the Azores. It has been given a 30% chance of formation. It is expected to reach Portugal on Friday.
Meanwhile, Sally continued to do damage. The slow-moving rainmaker that came ashore as a Category 2 hurricane and drenched the Florida Panhandle and southeast Alabama killed at least one person and left many coastal cities flooded, could bring about a foot of rain to the U.S. Southeast.
At least eight waterways in the Panhandle and south Alabama were expected to hit their major flood levels by Thursday. Some of the crests could break records, submerge bridges and flood homes, the National Weather Servicewarned.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis warned residents and visitors in flooded areas that they would need to remain vigilant as water from the hurricane subsides, because heavy rains to the north were expected to cause flooding in Panhandle rivers in coming days.
Stepping off a Coast Guard plane in Pensacola, DeSantis said the view from above wasn’t as obvious on Thursday from what is likely the destruction done to thousands of homes.
“There were other areas where you really didn’t see any standing water, so from a bird’s eye view, you think, ‘Well, maybe they didn’t get anydamage,’” DeSantis said.
“The problem with that is the water comes up, it can really damage the home, and may have already receded. ... I think you’re going to have to really just get boots on the ground to get the full impact of what happened.”
Although Sally was downgraded to a tropical depression and then a remnant, it was still producing torrential rains over the Carolinas on Thursday.
The National Weather Service said up to a foot of rain could accumulate in parts of Georgia, where multiple flash food warningswere issued Thursday.
Forecasters said South Carolina could see isolated rainfall totals of 10 inches. Flooding was also possible in portions of North Carolina and Virginia through Friday. There was also a chance of tornadoes Thursday insouthern Georgia and northern Florida.
This is the time of year when storms tend to form in the open Atlantic, particularly near the Cabo Verde Islands. These 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.
Hurricane season runs from June 1-Nov. 30. So far this season, there have been eight hurricanes and 20 tropical storms.
Laura was the season’s first major hurricane, making landfall inCameron, 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. Hurricane Nana impacted Central America.
The tropical weather experts at Colorado StateUniversity predicted that 2020 could possibly be the secondseason 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.