Swath of Atlantic still at risk for tropical development into next week
By
Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather senior meteorologist
Published Oct 10, 2019 6:19 PM EDT
While the window for tropical systems to brew will soon be closing for some zones in the Atlantic, the risk of tropical development is shifting southward into next week.
Subtropical Storm Melissa formed off the Northeast coast of the United States on Friday morning. This storm will shift eastward away from any land masses through the weekend.
This image taken on Saturday morning, Oct. 12, 2019, shows much of the Atlantic basin. Melissa is seen swirling toward the top left of the image, with unorganized clusters of showers and thunderstorms farther south. (NOAA/GOES-EAST)
NOAA/GOES-EAST
More long-term, AccuWeather meteorologists are also watching areas in the Caribbean and off the coast of Africa over the next week for possible tropical trouble.
Tropical disturbances, or tropical waves, continue to move westward off the coast of Africa every three days or so.
These waves make up the Cabo Verde season, which is named for the disturbances that originate near the Cabo Verde Islands just off the west coast of Africa.
A year after Hurricane Michael, it is still a struggle to find a place to live in Bay County, Florida. Before the storm, nearly three-quarters of all homes were rentals, but the storm damaged or destroyed much of that inventory. Estimates are that most apartment buildings won’t be ready until the middle of next year and subsidized housing might take even longer. One Panama City resident is tired of just driving by the problem, so she is using the skills she learned rebuilding her own home after the hurricane to start buying, rebuilding and renting damaged homes in her neighborhood.
Even though we are past the peak of the Cabo Verde season and the hurricane season in general, these disturbances and other areas can still evolve into tropical depressions, storms and hurricanes over time.
"A somewhat stronger tropical wave is forecast to move off the Africa coast this weekend and move westward," Kottlowski said.
"There is a low chance this becomes an organized system next week," he added.
There remains a broad area of weak counterclockwise winds over the western Caribbean and Central America. This feature is called a gyre.
Occasionally, as tropical waves move into this gyre, they have a greater chance at becoming a tropical depression or storm, since there is extra moisture in place and there already is a weak circulation to begin with.
"As a result, the area from the western Caribbean to Central America, including adjacent eastern Pacific waters, could give birth to a tropical system or two through next week," Kottlowski said.
"However, the chance of tropical storm formation is probably significantly higher on the Pacific side as opposed to the Caribbean side," Kottlowski added.
Hurricane season continues until the end of November, and Kottlowski feels there will be another named system or two over the Atlantic Ocean before the season comes to a close.
Download the free AccuWeather app to see the exact forecast for your area. Keep checking back for updates on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Report a Typo
News / Weather News
Swath of Atlantic still at risk for tropical development into next week
By Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather senior meteorologist
Published Oct 10, 2019 6:19 PM EDT
While the window for tropical systems to brew will soon be closing for some zones in the Atlantic, the risk of tropical development is shifting southward into next week.
Subtropical Storm Melissa formed off the Northeast coast of the United States on Friday morning. This storm will shift eastward away from any land masses through the weekend.
This image taken on Saturday morning, Oct. 12, 2019, shows much of the Atlantic basin. Melissa is seen swirling toward the top left of the image, with unorganized clusters of showers and thunderstorms farther south. (NOAA/GOES-EAST)
More long-term, AccuWeather meteorologists are also watching areas in the Caribbean and off the coast of Africa over the next week for possible tropical trouble.
Tropical disturbances, or tropical waves, continue to move westward off the coast of Africa every three days or so.
These waves make up the Cabo Verde season, which is named for the disturbances that originate near the Cabo Verde Islands just off the west coast of Africa.
A year after Hurricane Michael, it is still a struggle to find a place to live in Bay County, Florida. Before the storm, nearly three-quarters of all homes were rentals, but the storm damaged or destroyed much of that inventory. Estimates are that most apartment buildings won’t be ready until the middle of next year and subsidized housing might take even longer. One Panama City resident is tired of just driving by the problem, so she is using the skills she learned rebuilding her own home after the hurricane to start buying, rebuilding and renting damaged homes in her neighborhood.
Even though we are past the peak of the Cabo Verde season and the hurricane season in general, these disturbances and other areas can still evolve into tropical depressions, storms and hurricanes over time.
"A somewhat stronger tropical wave is forecast to move off the Africa coast this weekend and move westward," Kottlowski said.
"There is a low chance this becomes an organized system next week," he added.
There remains a broad area of weak counterclockwise winds over the western Caribbean and Central America. This feature is called a gyre.
Occasionally, as tropical waves move into this gyre, they have a greater chance at becoming a tropical depression or storm, since there is extra moisture in place and there already is a weak circulation to begin with.
"As a result, the area from the western Caribbean to Central America, including adjacent eastern Pacific waters, could give birth to a tropical system or two through next week," Kottlowski said.
"However, the chance of tropical storm formation is probably significantly higher on the Pacific side as opposed to the Caribbean side," Kottlowski added.
Hurricane season continues until the end of November, and Kottlowski feels there will be another named system or two over the Atlantic Ocean before the season comes to a close.
Download the free AccuWeather app to see the exact forecast for your area. Keep checking back for updates on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Report a Typo