It’s hurricane season here in the Lowcountry and it can be a bit stressful when we see storms churning in the ocean, but when Tropical Storm Vicky formed on Monday morning, it became the fifth named storm to share the Atlantic basin simultaneously.
Yes, there are currently five storms out there in the Atlantic, with good chances of them ultimately heading toward the Southeastern U.S.
The current named storms are Paulette, Rene, Sally, Teddy and Vicky. The next named storm would be called ‘Wilfred,’ which is the last name prepared for the 2020 season. After that, officials will turn to the Greek alphabet.
There is only one other time in recorded history when five or more tropical cyclones have existed together in the Atlantic, according to Colorado State University meteorologist Philip Klotzbach. The first time was between September 11 and 14, 1971.
On September 11 and 12, 1971, there were six simultaneous storms: Edith, Fern, Ginger, Unnamed, Heidi and Irene, Klotzbach tweeted.
Out of the five active storms in the Atlantic, the present concern for the United States is Tropical Storm Sally, which is expected to become a hurricane Monday. National Weather Service forecasters say it could bring storm surge and 12+ inches of rain from Eastern Louisiana to the Florida panhandle…then it could possibly head east after landfall and contribute to our weather here in the Lowcountry.
Of note, in addition to the five named storms, there are two more that are following with little chance of development.
In August, federal climate scientists updated their forecast for the 2020 hurricane season and predicted it would be an “extremely active” season.
They noted that there could be 25 named storms and forecasters could end up using the Greek alphabet.
The first four Greek letters to be used could be Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta.
