Hurricane

Erin continues to plot a course just north of the Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands for the upcoming weekend as it steadily strengthens into the first hurricane of the season by Friday.

After waffling over Erin’s future path in recent days, forecast models seem to have settled on a course that will take the center of the future hurricane just north of the Leeward Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico this weekend

Erin, the fifth named storm of the hurricane season, formed on Monday over the eastern Atlantic and is poised to strengthen into the first hurricane of the season by Thursday as it tracks westward.

Tropical Storm Erin formed Monday in the eastern tropical Atlantic Ocean, just west of the Cabo Verde Islands, forecasters said.

The tropical wave that moved off Africa Friday has been designated Invest 97L, and it is on the cusp of becoming a tropical depression or named storm. The next name on the list is Erin.

As we’ve anticipated since early last month, the Atlantic is off to a busy start this August but thankfully so far we’ve avoided any threats to land.

The Atlantic’s making up for a slow start, with Dexter alone doubling the paltry activity of the past two months, and more storms on the horizon.

As any regular reader of this newsletter knows, there’s always a point in the hurricane season – most often in August – when the Atlantic springs awake.

We’re not even through the first full week of August and the hurricane season is quickly hitting its stride.

We’ve been previewing a busy start to August in this newsletter for almost a month, describing the behind-the-scenes developments signaling an uptick in Atlantic activity, and, two weeks ago, advertising an August 3rd wake-up call for the basin.

A tropical storm churned Monday in the western Atlantic Ocean, but forecasters say it was expected to move away from the U.S. coast and stay north of Bermuda.

A tropical storm strengthened into Hurricane Gil on Friday in the eastern Pacific Ocean, according to the National Hurricane Center.

It’s August, a big month for the hurricane season when activity ramps up in a hurry and powerful hurricanes can threaten from every direction.

July, despite a few very significant tropically-driven floods, will end on a mostly quiet note.

Saharan dust plumes heaved through the Atlantic from the deserts of North Africa each summer – providing rich nutrients for soils of the Amazon while helping to curb early season hurricane activity – has been largely a no-show so far.