Subtropical Storm Wanda is creeping along at a snail’s pace over the Central Atlantic, and that lack of movement could help transition the system from a subtropical storm into a tropical storm soon. The remnants of what was once an impressive nor’easter in the Northeast just days ago transformed into a subtropical storm early today over the open waters of the North Atlantic.
Wanda is the 21st named storm of the 2021 Atlantic Hurricane Season to date. Only two seasons on record have had more than 21 named storms: 2005, which had 28 named storms, and last year which had a record-breaking 30 named storms. As the 21st name from a list of 21 names, Wanda now exhausts the 2021 Tropical Cyclone Name List for the Atlantic Hurricane Basin. While hurricane season in the Atlantic runs through to the end of November, it is possible to have tropical cyclones in December too. Should any system warrant being named in the balance of the year, the National Hurricane Center will pull names from a back-up list of storms released earlier this year.
Right now, Subtropical Storm Wanda is located about 900 miles west of the Azores near 36.3 N 43.2W. Wanda is barely moving to the west at 1 mph. Maximum sustained winds are near 50 mph while the estimate minimum central pressure is 990 mb or 29.24″.
According to the National Hurricane Center, Wanda is expected to begin a slow southward motion tonight followed by an eastward motion on Monday. On Tuesday, Wanda is forecast to turn to the northeast or north.
While Wanda won’t change strength, it is changing its structure, which means it’ll likely become a traditional tropical storm soon. According to the National Hurricane Center, the upper-trough supporting the subtropical nature of Wanda is forecast to lift out to the northeast by Monday. In addition, over the past day or so, the cyclone has taken on a little more of the appearance of a tropical cyclone versus a subtropical cyclone. The National Hurricane Center expects the transition to a full fledged tropical storm will happen by tomorrow.
Over the open waters of the North Atlantic, Wanda is not expected to impact any landmass. However, it will produce hazards to marine traffic crossing the Atlantic.
