Tracking the Tropics: Why haven’t there been any major storms this May?
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The National Hurricane Center (NHC) is monitoring the first tropical wave of the season.
The wave was identified in the central Atlantic on Wednesday, but WFLA’s Chief Meteorologist Jeff Berardelli said tropical waves are common and not something to worry about right now.
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“We get hundreds of tropical waves each year,” Berardelli said. “The National Hurricane Center is not projecting this one will turn into anything.”
Berardelli added that tropical waves that come off the coast of Africa are more likely to develop into storms later in the season, and when tropical systems do affect Florida early in the season, they usually start closer to home in the Gulf of Mexico.
In Tuesday’s Berardelli Bonus, WFLA’s chief meteorologist explained why this May has been a quiet one despite extreme temperatures in the Gulf and the Atlantic.
“A lack of opportunities. There’s just nothing out there, nothing expected to develop in the next seven days,” Berardelli explained.
Despite record heat in the Atlantic, in the Caribbean, and in the Gulf of Mexico, there has not been any chance for a storm to develop.
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In the Gulf of Mexico, a heat dome, the presence of extreme heat over a region, is to blame, according to Berardelli.
“Fronts head to the south, sometimes those storms gather around the fronts, low pressure forms, and we could see tropical lows form,” Berardelli explained. “That cannot happen right now with that heat dome.”
“With no fronts being able to get to the Gulf, for now, things look good,” Berardelli added.
For more information ahead of this hurricane season, tune in to Jeff’s Climate Classroom Thursday at 2:30 p.m.
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