A tropical wave is drifting west toward the United States and conditions could become favorable for the system to develop early next week, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Disorganized showers and thunderstorms are being produced by the system as it travels at 15 mph in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, the NHC said in Thursday’s 8 a.m. advisory.
The system has a 20% chance of developing in the next five days, which is considered a low chance, and a near 0% chance of developing in the next 48 hours, the NHC said.
It’s been a quiet hurricane season so far in 2022. This is the first time in eight years a named storm didn’t form prior to the June 1 start of hurricane season.
Earlier this month the low pressure system that eventually became Tropical Storm Alex dropped double-digit rain totals in parts of South Florida causing localized flooding.
But about this time a year ago Tropical Storm Claudette formed and was making its way through the mid-Atlantic after making landfall in Louisiana.
Prior to Claudette, there was Tropical Storm Ana, which formed May 22 northeast of Bermuda, and Tropical Storm Bill, which formed June 14 off the coast of North Carolina.
Ana’s formation marked the seventh consecutive year a named storm formed before the official June 1 start of hurricane season.
Both Ana and Bill were short-lived and neither threatened the United States.
