Hurricane season: Tropics showing signs of life
Forecasters see potential for two tropical storms next week.
Perhaps it did not want to distract attention from the national political conventions, but after getting off to a record fast start, the Atlantic hurricane season has been dormant.
No named storms have developed in the Atlantic Basin, which includes the Gulf and Caribbean, since Danielle formed on June 20.
But the National Hurricane Center now is watching two disturbances -- one off the coast of Africa, and the other better than 1,000 miles east of the Caribbean islands – for tropical-storm potential.
The first one has a 50-50 shot at earning a name, that is, generating peak winds of at least 39 m.p.h., by the middle of next week. The hurricane center gives the other one a 30 percent shot.
Danielle was the fourth named storm of the year, marking that four had developed so early. On average, the basin doesn't see four tropical storms until Aug. 23
So far, however, none of the cyclones has made much of splash. The biggest wind clocked so far was 85 m.p.h.
And that was back in January, when Alex became a rare winter hurricane.