After Nana and Omar, what's next for the Atlantic?
By
Ryan Adamson, AccuWeather meteorologist &
Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather senior meteorologist
Published Sep 3, 2020 9:35 AM EST
Wild winds from Typhoon Maysak whipped through this parking garage in Jeju City, South Korea, on Sept. 2. Maximum wind speeds were measured up to 101 mph.
The record-breaking 2020 Atlantic hurricane season is continuing to show no signs of slowing.
Tropical Depression 15 developed off the coast of North Carolina on Monday before becoming Tropical Storm Omar on Tuesday afternoon. Earlier on Tuesday, Tropical Storm Nana formed.
By Wednesday evening, Nana had strengthened to a Category 1 hurricane with 75-mph winds and made landfall on the coast of Belize early Thursday morning. Meanwhile, Omar continued to fall apart well northeast of Bermuda until it finally dissipated around 5 p.m. EDT on Saturday.
With Omar falling apart and Nana's leftover circulation now over the East Pacific, will there be a breather in the season? Forecasters say that while a couple of days of rest will be likely, there are areas already being monitored for development in the central and eastern Atlantic Ocean.
A tropical disturbance, known as a tropical wave, has emerged off the west coast of Africa. Dozens of these waves emerge from Africa each hurricane season, but only a handful of them actually develop further.
The most recent wave is combining with another disturbance that is near the Cabo Verde Islands, which are located several hundred miles west of Africa.
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The combination of these two areas has resulted in a very large area of disorganized showers and thunderstorms. Over the next few days, the current state of disorganization is likely to change.
"This wave moving near the Cabo Verde Islands is still disorganized and will be running into a bit of wind shear early on, then it will move into a much more favorable environment with less wind shear later this weekend," said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Matt Rinde.
This image, captured on Friday, September 4, 2020, shows quiet conditions over much of the Caribbean and central Atlantic, but thunderstorms were brewing farther to the east, off the coast of Africa. (NOAA/GOES-East)
"This current Cabo Verde system has a high chance of becoming a tropical depression then a tropical storm during Sunday and Monday of early next week as it drifts farther to the west over the central Atlantic," according to AccuWeather's top hurricane expert Dan Kottlowski.
All residents and interests in the Lesser Antilles should closely monitor this system once it forms.
"This system could become a hurricane as it moves west-northwest near or north and east of the Leeward Islands," Kottlowski added.
A second area of development could take place early next week as another strong tropical wave is forecast to emerge off the west coast of Africa during Sunday and Monday.
"While the chance of development is currently medium for this near-Africa feature, conditions could change quickly and allow the system to rapidly develop and perhaps around the same time frame as the system farther to the west," Kottlowski said.
Both systems could develop spanning the Sunday to Tuesday period.
The next tropical storm names on the list for 2020 in the Atlantic are Paulette and Rene. Since one or both storms could form prior to the middle of the month, there is a significant chance more early-formation records will fall and join Cristobal, Edouard, Fay, Gonzalo, Hanna, Isaias, Josephine, Kyle, Laura, Marco, Nana and Omar as top of the list for early-formation for their respective letters.
Early-formation record holders, Philippe, formed on September 17, 2005, and Rita, formed on September 18, 2005.
With the peak of the hurricane season only a week away and since the season runs until the end of November, many more storms are likely in what is already been a record-setting season. Early this summer, AccuWeather meteorologists predicted a hyperactive peak hurricane season, which is now underway. AccuWeather meteorologists are calling for up to 24 tropical storms and up to 11 hurricanes in total this season.
These numbers mean that the Greek alphabet will have to be utilized for tropical storm names, which was only done in one other season: 2005.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Report a Typo
News / Hurricane
After Nana and Omar, what's next for the Atlantic?
By Ryan Adamson, AccuWeather meteorologist & Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather senior meteorologist
Published Sep 3, 2020 9:35 AM EST
Wild winds from Typhoon Maysak whipped through this parking garage in Jeju City, South Korea, on Sept. 2. Maximum wind speeds were measured up to 101 mph.
The record-breaking 2020 Atlantic hurricane season is continuing to show no signs of slowing.
Tropical Depression 15 developed off the coast of North Carolina on Monday before becoming Tropical Storm Omar on Tuesday afternoon. Earlier on Tuesday, Tropical Storm Nana formed.
By Wednesday evening, Nana had strengthened to a Category 1 hurricane with 75-mph winds and made landfall on the coast of Belize early Thursday morning. Meanwhile, Omar continued to fall apart well northeast of Bermuda until it finally dissipated around 5 p.m. EDT on Saturday.
With Omar falling apart and Nana's leftover circulation now over the East Pacific, will there be a breather in the season? Forecasters say that while a couple of days of rest will be likely, there are areas already being monitored for development in the central and eastern Atlantic Ocean.
A tropical disturbance, known as a tropical wave, has emerged off the west coast of Africa. Dozens of these waves emerge from Africa each hurricane season, but only a handful of them actually develop further.
The most recent wave is combining with another disturbance that is near the Cabo Verde Islands, which are located several hundred miles west of Africa.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP
The combination of these two areas has resulted in a very large area of disorganized showers and thunderstorms. Over the next few days, the current state of disorganization is likely to change.
"This wave moving near the Cabo Verde Islands is still disorganized and will be running into a bit of wind shear early on, then it will move into a much more favorable environment with less wind shear later this weekend," said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Matt Rinde.
This image, captured on Friday, September 4, 2020, shows quiet conditions over much of the Caribbean and central Atlantic, but thunderstorms were brewing farther to the east, off the coast of Africa. (NOAA/GOES-East)
"This current Cabo Verde system has a high chance of becoming a tropical depression then a tropical storm during Sunday and Monday of early next week as it drifts farther to the west over the central Atlantic," according to AccuWeather's top hurricane expert Dan Kottlowski.
All residents and interests in the Lesser Antilles should closely monitor this system once it forms.
"This system could become a hurricane as it moves west-northwest near or north and east of the Leeward Islands," Kottlowski added.
Related:
A second area of development could take place early next week as another strong tropical wave is forecast to emerge off the west coast of Africa during Sunday and Monday.
"While the chance of development is currently medium for this near-Africa feature, conditions could change quickly and allow the system to rapidly develop and perhaps around the same time frame as the system farther to the west," Kottlowski said.
Both systems could develop spanning the Sunday to Tuesday period.
The next tropical storm names on the list for 2020 in the Atlantic are Paulette and Rene. Since one or both storms could form prior to the middle of the month, there is a significant chance more early-formation records will fall and join Cristobal, Edouard, Fay, Gonzalo, Hanna, Isaias, Josephine, Kyle, Laura, Marco, Nana and Omar as top of the list for early-formation for their respective letters.
Early-formation record holders, Philippe, formed on September 17, 2005, and Rita, formed on September 18, 2005.
With the peak of the hurricane season only a week away and since the season runs until the end of November, many more storms are likely in what is already been a record-setting season. Early this summer, AccuWeather meteorologists predicted a hyperactive peak hurricane season, which is now underway. AccuWeather meteorologists are calling for up to 24 tropical storms and up to 11 hurricanes in total this season.
These numbers mean that the Greek alphabet will have to be utilized for tropical storm names, which was only done in one other season: 2005.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Report a Typo