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Hurricanes (weather)

Hurricane season takes a breather, but activity could ramp up again in October

Doyle Rice
USA TODAY
  • For the first time in weeks, no tropical storms or hurricanes are spinning anywhere in the Atlantic Basin.
  • So far this year, a whopping 23 named storms have formed, which is about double the average for an entire season.
  • The weather next week won't feel very tropical in much of the central, eastern and southern U.S.

The fierce 2020 hurricane season appears to be taking a breather.

For the first time in weeks, no tropical storms or hurricanes are spinning in the Atlantic Basin, which includes the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, according to the National Hurricane Center. 

As of Thursday, no storms were forecast to develop over at least the next five days. 

This year, 23 named storms have formed – about double the average for an entire season. The 23 storms included two storms named for Greek letters (Alpha and Beta), which became necessary when the seasonal list of 21 regular names was exhausted. 

The USA has experienced nine landfalls from tropical systems this year, which ties 1916 for the most in one season, AccuWeather said. 

Very few parts of the eastern and southern coasts have been spared: The only portion of the Gulf and East Coasts that has not been under some form of storm surge, tropical storm or hurricane watch or warning this year is the west coast of Florida, the Weather Channel reported.

Storms Alpha and Beta form:Hurricane season 2020 has been so busy, we have to use Greek letters

Looking ahead, the weather next week won't feel very tropical in much of the central, eastern and southern USA, where an unusual (for October) invasion of Arctic air is forecast.  

Some record cold temperatures are possible by the middle to end of the week, especially in the Midwest, where frosts and freezes look to be widespread.   

While the eastern half of the nation shivers, the weather looks to be very hot and dry in the parched West next week, which will exacerbate the wildfire threat.  

2020 has been a frenetic hurricane season.

"For many in the West, the heat wave that will build next week will only add to what's already been an arduous wildfire season fraught with widespread drought," AccuWeather meteorologist Jacob Sojda said. Record highs are possible. 

As for hurricanes, the break may only be temporary: “Given the extremely warm Caribbean and the push toward La Niña conditions, I do expect the rest of the season to be quite active,” Colorado State University meteorologist Phil Klotzbach told the Capital Weather Gang.

La Niña, a natural cooling of ocean water in the central Pacific Ocean, tends to increase hurricane activity in the Atlantic Basin. 

The Caribbean may be one place to watch in October:

"Computer forecasts continue to show the development of a large counterclockwise wind pattern over Central America, commonly referred to as a gyre, later next week. This could lead to the development of an organized tropical system in the southern Caribbean during early October," AccuWeather's lead hurricane expert Dan Kottlowski said.

And we still have more than two months to go: The hurricane season won't come to its merciful end until Nov. 30, although storms have been known to form in December. 

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