Don't Let Your Guard Down

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Just because the tropics have been unusually quiet this August, it hardly means hurricane season is over. Take a look at this graphic from my AccuWeather colleagues:

More information from AccuWeather is here.

Comments

  1. AnonymousAugust 30, 2013 at 4:18 PM

    And as this year's otherwise below average tornado count soberly reminds us, it only takes one major storm striking in the wrong place...

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousAugust 30, 2013 at 4:27 PM

    Having read the AccuWeather piece, I am intrigued by this statement: "A lack of strong systems in the tropics to date this season means there is a great deal of potential heat energy that is locked up over the basin."

    I do not track weather data bases, so I am wondering where one might go to locate the "potential heat energy that is locked up over the basin."


    Are air temperatures above normal? Higher than normal sea temperatures at the surface or in the depths? Are there other data that might reveal "locked up" energy over the basin?


    Or is it perhaps possible that it is the very absence of "potential heat energy" that accounts for the "lack of strong systems"? Sort of a "chicken & egg" question, I guess.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mike SmithAugust 30, 2013 at 5:23 PM

    Richard,

    The top of the ocean contains the heat needed for hurricanes. When a storm occurs over, say, the Gulf of Mexico, the wave action brings colder water to the surface. Thus, it is more difficult for a hurricane to form later in the season.

    Mike

    ReplyDelete

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