With the peak of hurricane season approaching, AccuWeather meteorologists are closely monitoring the Atlantic basin for signs of development and there are some locations close to the United States that bear watching over the next couple of weeks.
Tropical Storm Chantal formed late Monday evening over the warm waters of the Gulf Stream in the North Atlantic. This storm poses no threat to land but will produce a zone of rough seas and squalls for ships moving through that area.
Chantal, located about 455 miles to the south of Cape Race, Newfoundland, on Wednesday was chugging east at around 21 mph and has sustained winds of 40 mph, just over the threshold for tropical storm strength, which is 39 mph or greater.
When Chantal was named, it became “the highest latitude named storm formation for an Atlantic tropical cyclone since Alberto in 1988,” according to Colorado State University Meteorologist Phil Klotzbach.
The Atlantic hurricane season peaks around Sept. 11, on average. During the next couple of weeks, the risk of additional tropical storm and hurricane formation increases substantially from its midsummer lull.
But conditions can change quickly.
“We are within the most likely time of the year for tropical development across the Atlantic basin and any feature that can acquire a low-level circulation can also evolve into an organized tropical feature,” according to AccuWeather Hurricane Expert Dan Kottlowski.
A batch of showers and thunderstorms associated with a weak tropical disturbance, or wave, located near Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, is forecast to move over the central and western Gulf of Mexico late this week.
Downpours and squalls associated with this feature are then expected to drift northward toward the upper Gulf coast this weekend.
While this feature does not represent a threat for high winds and storm surge, it is likely to pack enough rain to be a concern for flooding as it moves inland over the southern U.S.
