- Tropical Storm Bill is the second-named storm of the 2021 season that forecasters have predicted will be active.
- Bill is located southeast of Nantucket, Massachusetts and is unlikely to cause any significant damage.
- Forecasters are looking at three areas of “opportunity” this week.
Tropical storm Bill was troubled on Tuesday off the east coast. the second-named storm Anger could ensue in an approaching hurricane season that forecasters have warned about.
Bill is only the eighth time in more than 70 years that two named storms developed this early in the season, tweeted Philip Klotzbach, a meteorologist at Colorado State University.
The good news: Bill roared 240 miles southeast of Nantucket, Massachusetts, and it seemed unlikely that he would cause any significant damage. The storm was moving northeast at 31 mph, the National Weather Service said early Tuesday.
The system is forecast to hit a post-tropical low by tonight and resolve on Wednesday, and there have been no coastguards or warnings.
Still, AccuWeather Chief meteorologist Dan Pydynowski said shipping and fishing could be affected and rough surf could occur in Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard. Pydynowski said the warm waters of the Gulf Stream have nourished the system for the past few days and helped it intensify into a tropical storm.
“As the system moves further northeast, the water below will get progressively colder,” said Pydynowski.
The storm developed two weeks after the start of the hurricane season, which lasted until November 30th. The first storm of the season, Ana, actually started the season a little earlier and formed northeast of Bermuda in late May. Ana had a short life span across the Atlantic.
Atlantic hurricane seasons usually peak in August and September, but Klotzbach noted that forecasters Monitoring of three areas with “development opportunity” this week to make the card “look more like one I’d expect in September than June!”
Accuweather said one or two more systems could gain strength by month end to claim names. The next two Names on the list of tropical storms Claudette and Danny again for 2021.
Last year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecast 13 to 19 named tropical storms, of which six to 10 would be hurricanes. That prediction proved optimistic, however, as a record of 30 named storms formed, including 14 hurricanes, seven of which were “large” with winds of 111 mph or higher.
NOAA predicts another busy hurricane season: Up to 20 named storms possible
Tropical Depression forms off North Carolina, could reinforce to Tropical Storm Bill
This season could bring a record year of above-average activity for the sixth year in a row as the federal government is federal expects another active season. According to NOAA, up to 20 named storms will develop, starting with tropical storms with winds of 39 miles per hour or higher. Storms turn into hurricanes when winds reach 120 km / h.
According to NOAA, up to 10 hurricanes could form, with three to five potentially larger hurricanes. An average season usually brings seven hurricanes and highs in August and September.
Contribution: Megan Kearney, Naples Daily News
