NOAA urges coastal residents to know their hurricane risk
NOAA warns to know your hurricane risk
Nothing illustrates the peak of hurricane season more than an explosion of activity on storm tracking maps.
Meteorologists at the National Hurricane Center were tracking nine different storms and potential storms early on Monday, Aug. 24, including seven in the Pacific Ocean and two in the Atlantic Ocean.
In Hawaii, residents won a bit of a reprieve as a weakening Moke, downgraded from a tropical storm to a tropical depression, passed some 300 miles to the south. The islands, recovering from Hurricane Lala, were still forecast to receive heavy rain and tropical storm-force gusts related to the passing storm, according to the National Weather Service in Honolulu. Gusts could reach up to 55 mph over the Big Island and 45 mph over Oahu and Kauai.
Portions of the Big Island and eastern Maui were forecast to receive an additional 3 to 6 inches of rain through Monday, bringing the total rainfall on portions of the Big Island to 15 inches, the hurricane center said. Especially in areas previously affected by Lala, the rain could bring life-threatening flooding and mudslides, the hurricane center said.
“Moke will not pass nearly as close as Lala did last weekend, but this is a storm that should still be taken very seriously,” said AccuWeather expert meteorologist Alyssa Glenny. “This is a vulnerable area given the severe mudslides, power outages and flooding rain caused by Lala last weekend.”
Meanwhile, Lala entered its 12th day as a tropical storm, still holding on to 65 mph winds as it moved through the Central Pacific nearly 1,300 miles to the northwest of Honolulu.
What else is going on in the Eastern Pacific?
Tropical Storm Iselle formed on Aug. 23, well off the Mexican coast. At 5 a.m. Aug. 25, the storm had 60-mph winds and was 540 miles southwest of the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula. Unlike the long-lived Lala, Iselle is forecast to briefly hit hurricane strength as it moves northwestward without threatening land, then disintegrate to a tropical depression within five days.
Four other potential areas are strung out across the Pacific between what remains of Moke and Central America, according to the hurricane center.
- A lemon yellow blob on the hurricane center’s map to the west of Iselle is expected to become an area of low pressure to the east-southeast of the Hawaiian Islands later in the week.
- Iselle is expected to absorb a system to its west-southwest that could first briefly become a tropical depression.
- Another is forecast to develop well south of the peninsula by the middle of the week, and could slowly develop into a tropical depression while moving generally west-northwestward. The center puts the chances of development at 70% over seven days.
- One other potential disturbance – between the above areas and the Mexican coast – has a 30% chance of becoming a tropical depression or storm over the next seven days.
What are hurricane forecasters watching in the Atlantic?
An area of showers and thunderstorms about 400 miles southeast of Bermuda appeared to be getting better organized on Sunday, Aug. 23, and could possibly become a short-lived depression or storm as it moves northward and then northeastward. The hurricane center put the chances of formation at 50% over 48 hours and over seven days.
A tropical wave expected to move off the coast of Africa was getting a little more attention from tropical weather watchers. An associated area of low pressure could form early in the week and eventually become a tropical depression as it moves westward at 15 to 20 mph across the eastern and central tropical Atlantic.
Although strong winds related to the El Niño in the Pacific are making it hard for big storms to form in the Atlantic so far this summer, meteorologists warn that hurricanes have formed during past El Niño summers and aren’t out of the question.
Dinah Voyles Pulver, a national correspondent for USA TODAY, writes about violent weather, climate change and other news. Reach her at dpulver@usatoday.com