Peak hurricane season is here. Tropical Storm Henri drenched the Northeast this weekend, and the tropics is lighting up with activity, portending more storms on the horizon.
Henri, downgraded from hurricane status hours before it made landfall over Rhode Island on Sunday, is still wreaking havoc as it slowly moves across southern New England. The storm brought heavy rain, strong winds, and flooding. It also caused a wide swath of power outages affecting tens of thousands of customers in Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut. President Joe Biden pledged federal aid to areas hit by the storm.
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Flood watches remain in effect across the region. The National Hurricane Center said in a late Monday afternoon advisory that maximum sustained winds are down to 25 miles per hour, with some stronger wind gusts. That is significantly down from the 74 mph winds of a low-end Category 1 hurricane. However, other dangers remain, with inches worth of rain still in the forecast for some areas, life-threatening surf and rip current conditions, and even the potential for a tornado or two.
The storm is expected to dissipate by Wednesday. Beyond Henri, forecasters advise people that “peak” Atlantic hurricane season has arrived, judging by the frequency of named storms that form through the first half of September.
We are entering the peak of the Atlantic hurricane season; from now through the end of October. pic.twitter.com/GUPrsI331b
— James Spann (@spann) August 18, 2021
Already, there are three other disturbances on the National Hurricane Center’s radar. The closest one to the United States is several hundred miles south, a tropical wave over the eastern Caribbean Sea. As it moves west over the next couple of days, the area of low pressure has a moderate chance to form into a cyclone.
Welcome to the peak of hurricane season! ???
The Caribbean disturbance poses the most immediate threat to land, but there are two other disturbances that could develop in the open Atlantic this week.
Next names are #IDA, #JULIAN, & #KATE.#TropicalUpdate #flwx ? pic.twitter.com/RGJcX1Ilrh
— Dylan Federico (@DylanFedericoWX) August 23, 2021
Behind it are two other disturbances moving west or northwest across the Atlantic and could develop within the week. However, they are still several days away from possibly threatening the Americas.
If all three develop, they will be given the names Ida, Julian, and Kate.
5 pm Monday…The center of the remnants of Henri are moving back across Connecticut – centered 50 mi west-southwest of Hartford CT moving to the ENE at 9 mph. Here is a radar view of the last 50 hours of Henri from 2 pm Saturday Aug 21st to 4:16 pm Monday August 23rd. pic.twitter.com/0IEEYtFvYp
— NWS Eastern Region (@NWSEastern) August 23, 2021
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration updated its 2021 Atlantic hurricane seasonal forecast this month, acknowledging a slight increase in anticipated severe storms for the rest of the season in forecasting a 65% chance of an “above-average” season with a 70% probability of 15-21 named storms. NOAA predicted seven to 10 will become hurricanes, with three to five as major hurricanes of Category 3, 4, or 5 strength.
So far, there has only been one “major” hurricane: Grace, which hit Mexico last week as a Category 3 and left at least eight dead in its wake.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The North Atlantic basin’s most active season on record occurred in 2020, with 30 named storms reported last year. Eleven of these named storms hit the U.S. coastline.
The Atlantic hurricane season lasts from June 1 to Nov. 30.
