Two potential hurricanes are heading towards the northern Caribbean and mainland United States – with a third building in the Atlantic – in apparent confirmation of meteorologists’ predictions that the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season will become one of the worst on record. The largest of the three, Tropical Storm Laura, was named on Friday, breaking the record for the earliest use of the letter L in a storm name in the region. Forecasts said it poses a potential hurricane threat to the US and British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, Cuba and possibly southern Florida in the coming days. The US Gulf coast may be hit by two storms next week as Laura curves north towards Louisiana and another, Tropical Storm Marco, pushes north from the Yucatan peninsula.“I’m usually pretty measured, calm and I avoid hyping things when it comes to tropical storms and hurricanes,” said Rob Lightbown of subscription forecast service Crownweather.com. “But I’m as worried right now as I have ever been regarding the forecast for the rest of the season.”Mid-August to mid-September is considered the peak of Atlantic hurricane season, the period in which powerful storms most regularly develop as they cross the Atlantic. Earlier this month, meteorologists unexpectedly increased their predictions of an “extremely active” season from a 60% chance to 85%. The United States National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) now says the number of named storms could be between 19 and 25 – well above the yearly average of 12. They blame extremely warm seas, unusually moist air and low winds in the upper atmosphere, estimating the amount of Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE), an indicator of overall storm potential, to have risen from twice the usual average to between 140% and 230%. The pandemic is a complicating factor. Some scientists say that reduced air traffic is affecting forecasts, as fewer planes are now collating weather information.


All data is taken from the source: https://www.theguardian.com/
Article Link: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/22/hurricane-us-gulf-coast-coronavirus


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