As we have dealt with strong to severe storms these past couple of weeks. Severe weather preparedness has come to the forefront of people’s minds, and in just a couple of weeks, we will have a new type of severe weather to add to our radar: hurricanes.
The 2024 hurricane season was above average for tropical cyclones, with 18 named storms, 11 hurricanes, and 5 major hurricanes. Many forecasters are expecting a similar story this year.
We have already seen here in Virginia, and through the mid-Atlantic, above-average temperatures have ruled even over the past few weeks, and the same is true for sea surface temperatures so far this year. This could be a contributing factor when it comes to the potential for an early Atlantic hurricane season.
If we see early tropical development during the first month of hurricane season, these named storms usually pop up in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic seaboard. This is based on data from hurricane seasons 1944-2020.
In terms of an early hurricane, historically, those have made landfall in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico. This is a different classification than just a named tropical storm.
As a coastal state, these conditions are just a few of the things we will need to keep tabs on in the coming months.
