While not much is going on across Michiana, the topics are suddenly quite active. There are currently three named storms in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. Tropical Storm Claudette is currently the closest storm to the U.S. The system formed over the weekend and looks to be heading for the Florida panhandle. As I write this on Sunday afternoon, winds are 50 mph and will hit the coast overnight.

The other two system are way out in the middle of the Atlantic. The first named storm of the season, Ana, is moving toward the Leeward Islands. This storm has winds of 40mph. Of course, that can and will change over the next several days.

The next, and potentially future large storm, is Tropical Storm Bill. As of Sunday afternoon, Bill had sustained winds of 60 mph. It will become a hurricane when winds hit 74 mph. Forecasters think Bill could become a strong category three hurricane in the next several days. A category three has winds between 111-130. Its anticipated path has it going north of the Leeward Islands and Puerto Rico, then possibly heading for the U.S. Of course, that is still many days away and tropical systems always change their path.

Usually the peak time for the hurricane season is August and September. This is when the water in the tropics is at its warmest. Hurricanes can only form over water that’s 80 degrees or warmer.

For 2009, the hurricane season hasn’t really made a lot of headlines. That’s because of El Nino in the Pacific. El Nino is a warm weather patter in the Pacific. This pattern inhibits tropical formation in the Atlantic due to strong upper level winds. These winds blow away the tops of developing storms which would turn into hurricanes.  When the season started, forecasters predicted 14 named storms with seven reaching hurricane strength. In August, that was reduced to 7 to 11 named storms with 3 to 6 hurricanes.

The hurricane season ends November 30th, so keep watching the tropics.

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