Tropical storms Rene and Paulette strengthen

Tropical Storm Paulette and Tropical Storm Rene were gaining strength and speed Wednesday after weakening overnight, and Rene is expected to strengthen into the season’s fifth hurricane late this week, forecasters said.

Rene was downgraded to a tropical depression late Tuesday, but regained tropical storm status Wednesday morning. It is expected to continue strengthening over the next 48 hours, and Rene is forecast to grow into a Category 1 hurricane, the National Hurricane Center said in an advisory.

Shortly before 5 p.m. Wednesday, Rene was about 590 miles west-northwest of the Cabo Verde Islands with top winds measuring 40 mph. It was moving westnorthwest at 13 mph. Category 1 hurricanes form when maximum sustained winds are in the range of 73 to 95 mph.

A wind-sheared Tropical Storm Paulette was located about 1,035 miles east of the eastern boundary of the Caribbean and had maximum sustained winds measuring 60 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The storm is moving westnorthwest at 10 mph, and is expected to weaken during the next day or two, according to the hurricane center’s 5 p.m. public advisory.

Paulette is forecast to continue to move west-northwestward Wednesday through Friday, with the exception of a slight turn west on Thursday. Tropical-stormforce winds extend up to 175 miles from its center.

Gradual weakening is expected Wednesday, with some slight restrengthening late in the week, the hurricane center said.

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

The National Hurricane Center said that three more tropical depressions may form this week — one potentially off the Carolina coast, one from a yet-to-form tropical wave over Africa and a new one near the Bahamas.

A large area of disorganized showers and thunderstorms is forecast to be near Florida on Friday. After passing over the Bahamas and Florida, it could develop over the eastern Gulf of Mexico, the hurricane center said in its 8 p.m. advisory. It has been given a 20% chance of development.

An area of low pressure that emerged early Sunday near Bermuda could become a tropical depression in the next few days as it moves generally west along the U.S. southeast coast, forecasters said. It has been given a 20% chance of development.

Some development is possible before it moves inland over eastern North Carolina on Thursday afternoon, the hurricane center said. As of 8 p.m., it was located about 240 miles southeast of Wilmington, N.C., and moving to the northwest at 10 to 15 mph.

A tropical wave was expected to emerged off the African coast on Thursday and head west over the Atlantic. Forecasters said it is likely to become a tropical depression late this week or over the weekend as it moves across the eastern tropical Atlantic. It has been given a 90% chance of development.

Another tropical wave was expected to emerge off the African coast over the weekend. It is expected to develop slowly, the hurricane center said. It has been given a 20% chance of development.

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.

So far, there have been 17 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, respectively.

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

The remaining monikers for named storms this season in the Atlantic are: Sally, Teddy, 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.