The GOES-East Weather Satellite has an eyeful, with the latest scan of Earth showing numerous tropical cyclones in the Eastern Pacific, Gulf of Mexico, and Atlantic Ocean. Around September 10 is the traditional peak of hurricane season and Mother Nature is right on time, with several storms in different phases dotted across the oceans.
The next storm of concern is Sally, a strong tropical storm that is likely to become hurricane strength by tonight. The National Hurricane Center forecasts that Sally will strike the Gulf Coast tomorrow, bringing a life threatening storm surge, flooding rains, damaging winds, rough surf, and many tornadoes with it.
While Rene is fading away as a tropical depression in the central Atlantic, two newly named tropical cyclones are spinning about in the eastern Atlantic: Teddy and Vicky. This afternoon’s formation of Tropical Storm Vicky is the earliest 20th named Atlantic storm on record, breaking the old record set by Tammy on October 5, 2005.
Another record is also expected to fall soon. A tropical wave near the west coast of Africa is producing disorganized shower and thunderstorm activity. According to the National Hurricane Center, environmental conditions appear to be conducive for slow development of the system this week as the wave moves westward at about 10 mph over the far eastern tropical Atlantic. Computer forecast guidance suggests that this too will develop into a tropical storm over time. If it does so, it would be given the name Wilfred, which is the last name of the 2020 Atlantic Basin storm list.
Should additional tropical cyclones form beyond Wilfred, and due to the high activity in the Atlantic that is likely, the National Hurricane Center will use letters from the Greek alphabet to name storms.
Meanwhile, activity in the eastern Pacific continues. There, Tropical Storm Karina continues to spin about. Fortunately, it is not expected to bring dangerous conditions to land as it spins about well west of Mexico.
