Danielle regains hurricane strength as it roams Atlantic
Hurricane season officially begins on June 1, but usually doesn't peak in the Atlantic until Mid-August to the end of September. This is when conditions are perfect for hurricanes and depressions.
The silence of nearly two months of no organized tropical activity in the Atlantic Ocean was shattered on Thursday when Tropical Storm Danielle formed. Danielle quickly went on to grab another accolade: the first hurricane of the 2022 Atlantic season.
One day after becoming a tropical storm, the first in the basin since Colin in early July, Danielle strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane for a time over the North Atlantic Ocean on Friday morning. While Danielle fell back to tropical storm status for much of the day Saturday, it once again strengthened into a hurricane Saturday night.
AccuWeather forecasters expect Danielle to remain at hurricane strength through the first half of this week, before the storm meets more hostile conditions for development.
Sunday morning, the storm wasn't a threat to land as it was located nearly 1,000 miles (1,600 km) west of the Azores, an island chain located to the west of Portugal. Danielle had maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 km/h) and was moving slowly to the north at 1 mph (2 km/h), according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). Hurricane-force winds extended up to 15 miles (24 km) from the hurricane's center. Tropical-storm-force winds extended outward up to 125 miles (201 km).
Danielle's development occurred right after an unusually quiet August. In fact, it was the first time in 25 years that the Atlantic basin had zero named tropical systems in the month of August.
This season has been dramatically different compared to the hyperactive 2020 and 2021 Atlantic seasons. The current season has fallen behind the pace of an average hurricane season. The first hurricane of an Atlantic season typically develops by Aug. 11, according to the 30-year average from 1991 to 2020 compiled by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Hurricane Danielle churns in the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday, Sept. 4, 2022. (AccuWeather RealVue™ satellite)
As the storm treks eastward after midweek, Danielle is likely to move into an area of lower water temperatures, which will likely cause it to lose wind intensity. By the upcoming weekend, what remains of Danielle can go on to impact portions of Europe.
"After transitioning into a tropical rainstorm, Danielle can bring some rain to western Europe late this week or next weekend. The extent and location of the rain will depend on the exact track of the storm," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Adam Douty explained, noting that gusty winds could also accompany the storm. Such impacts in Europe can happen from former hurricanes, but would be the first of this season.
Danielle is not alone in the Atlantic. Tropical Storm Earl formed late Friday night northeast of the Caribbean's Leeward Islands and is on track to bring periods of rain to some of the islands this weekend, before making a sharp turn toward the northeast.
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