Tropics Remain Quiet as Hurricane Season Nears Peak

The Tropical Atlantic remains very calm in 2013. We are nearing the peak of the season (September 10) and there are no active systems. The NHC is watching a couple of areas in the basin, but neither of these features are close to developing. The first area is north of Hispaniola and is the remnants of Gabrielle. The second is an emerging wave off the African Coast, both features have been given a 20% of developing into a tropical cyclone over the next 48 hours.

There have been several tropical storms this year, and even yesterday we had tropical depression 8 develop on the Mexican Coast, but there still have not been any hurricanes in the Atlantic in 2013. Since the onset of satellite technology, the latest it has been for a hurricane to develop was September 11, in 2002 when Gustav reached hurricane strength. It looks as though we could break that record as there is not real area of interest that is expected to reach hurricane strength.

Prior to the satellite era, the latest known development of a hurricane was September 16, way back in 1941. There have been two years when a hurricane was not reported, 1907 and 1914. These seasons were very calm, with just a handful of storms, but who really knows with the lack of technology and observation of the period.

Category: Tropical