Last year’s number of storms was below average, with 11 tropical storms in the Atlantic, six of which became hurricanes, including two major ones.
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Fiona was expected to continue in that direction for at least two days, with wind shear and dry air causing it to weaken to a tropical depression today or Tuesday, the center said.
The only one with a name is Tropical Storm Fiona.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami said it has a 60 percent chance of development within the next five days.
An NHC advisory warned that the system was moving west-northwest at a 15- to 20-mph clip “near the northern Leeward Island and the Greater Antilles”.
Now located a few hundred miles east of the Leeward Islands, this tropical wave has been given a 60 percent chance of developing further over the next five days.
As of 5 p.m. on Monday, the storm’s winds were clocked at approximately 35 miles per hour but they could reach speeds of 90 miles per hour over the next several days. It’s expected that the system will move west to west northwest at 15 to 20 miles per hour.
“At this point, it’s pretty far away from anything”, said Dennis Feltgen, spokesman for the National Hurricane Center.
Forecasters are becoming more concerned about a large storm spinning in the mid-Atlantic. Though far-out forecasts are fluid, and the storm could eventually impact Bermuda, “no impact to land is expected for the foreseeable future, “the Weather Channel wrote in a Monday blog post”. Additional strengthening is forecast, and Gaston is expected to become a hurricane by Wednesday.
As August’s end draws near, the peak of hurricane season approaches.
If this system’s path takes it too close to Hispaniola, with its mountainous terrain, it may never develop into an organized tropical storm.
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On Aug. 22 at 12:10 p.m. EDT (16:10 UTC) the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard NASA-NOAA’s Suomi NPP satellite captured a visible light image of Tropical Storm Fiona before it weakened into a tropical depression.
