The first day of hurricane season is off to a rousing start all around Florida with a former Pacific hurricane having very likely odds of reforming and a second system developing just off Florida’s east coast, the National Hurricane Center said Wednesday morning.
First, a large area of disturbed weather, which was the remnants of the Pacific storm, Hurricane Agatha, has a 70% chance of reforming into a tropical storm in the next two days and a 80% chance of doing so in the next five, the NHC said in its 8 a.m. update. If the storm reforms it will take on the name Alex.
On Monday, Agatha — the first storm of the Pacific hurricane season, which started May 15 — took form as Category 2 hurricane and made landfall in Puerto Angel, Mexico. The storm dissipated Tuesday over the rough Mexican terrain.
The NHC believes it will likely reform into a tropical depression by the weekend.
The disturbed area of storms is near the Yucatan Peninsula and the Southeastern Gulf of Mexico, but projections show the system developing and passing through Florida this weekend.
Spectrum News 13 meteorologist Maureen McCann said Tuesday morning that it’s too early to tell what the system will develop into and where it would go.
“The models aren’t in agreement just yet on where this will go or how it will develop” McCann said. “It could be a rainy weekend here in Florida, or it could miss us altogether. Either way this serves as a good reminder to be prepared for this storm or anything else that develops as we get into season.”
On Monday, Hurricane Agatha made history as the strongest hurricane ever recorded to come ashore in May during the eastern Pacific hurricane season, ripping off roofs and washing out roads before fading Tuesday in southern Mexico.
Oaxaca state Gov. Alejandro Murat told MVS Noticias Tuesday that eight people were listed as missing in either mudslides or flooding.
The storm hit Oaxaca state Monday afternoon as a strong Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph, then quickly lost power as it moved inland over the mountainous interior.
Meanwhile, a surface trough is developing off Florida’s east coast and 200 miles northeast of the central Bahamas, the NHC said. Surface pressure are currently high over the sea-surface area, keeping the system’s likelihood of development low. As of 5 a.m. the NHC gave the system a 10% chance of developing in the next two to five days.
Last week, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released its hurricane season predictions, stating a 65% chance of experiencing an above-average 2022 Atlantic hurricane season, beginning June 1 and running until Nov. 30.
“We always want to be prepared, whether it’s this or any other system – you want to be prepared, not scared,” McCann said.
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