BBC News
By Simon King
image captionA satellite image of Hurricane Iota on 16 November 2020
The Atlantic hurricane season officially begins on 1 June. But over the past six years, significant storms have been forming earlier than this. So does the hurricane season need to start earlier - and is climate change to blame?
At a regional meeting of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) this week, meteorologists and officials will be discussing a possible change to how the hurricane season is defined. The 2020 hurricane season was one of the most challenging in the 40-year history of [the] WMO s Tropical Cyclone Programme, says WMO Secretary-General Prof Petteri Taalas.
(CNN Weather Image)
Posted:
May 19, 2021 / 09:38 PM EST
(CNN) Hurricane season could begin before its official start for a seventh year in a row in the Atlantic Ocean, as the National Hurricane Center monitors a developing weather system that could become this season’s first named storm.
Early outlooks for the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season predict activity to be above-normal again. The National Hurricane Center will release its official 2021 Atlantic hurricane season forecast on Thursday.
On Wednesday evening, the center noted a region in the North Atlantic Ocean, northeast of Bermuda, as an area to watch for subtropical development. The weather system has a 60% or “medium” chance of formation within the next five days. If it becomes a tropical or subtropical storm, it will be named Ana.
Get ready for a busy Atlantic hurricane season
An ‘average’ season now has more storms
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PUERTO CABEZAS, NICARAGUA - NOVEMBER 16: Palm trees blow by wind as Nicaragua prepares to receive hurricane Iota on November 16, 2020 in Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua. Less than two weeks after being hardly affected by Hurricane Eta, villagers of Puerto Cabezas take precautions before landfall of Iota.
Photo by Maynor Valenzuela/Getty Images
The 2021 Atlantic hurricane season is shaping up to be busier than average. There’s a 60 percent chance of an above-normal season this year. Up to 20 named storms and as many as 10 hurricanes are expected, according to a forecast published today by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). They also forecast up to 5 major hurricanes, which have
PRE-SEASON ACTIVITY ISN T TOO UNUSUAL This chance of development signals that hurricane season is just around the corner and the time to watch the Atlantic Ocean for tropical systems is beginning. The Atlantic hurricane season begins on June 1 and is six months long, lasting through November 30. In the past five years, however, tropical cyclones have formed before June 1. Just last year, two tropical storms, Arthur and Berry, were named before the official start date. The last time the name Ana was used was in 2015 also before the start of hurricane season. Ana became a tropical storm in early May 2015, and made landfall near Mrytle Beach, South Carolina.