First cyclone of Atlantic hurricane season could start churning before Memorial Day

View The Original Article Here

A below-average hurricane season? A look at the names, early predictions for 2019

The 2019 Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 through Nov. 30. Here’s a look at the season’s early predictions — and what this year’s storms will be named.

The 2019 Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 through Nov. 30. Here’s a look at the season’s early predictions — and what this year’s storms will be named.

Hurricane season doesn’t start until June 1 for the East Coast, but a system taking shape in the Atlantic has a 70% chance of turning into the year’s first tropical cyclone this week, according to the National Hurricane Center.

An Air Force Reserve hurricane reconnaissance plane was on its way to take a look at an area of showers and thunderstorms southwest of Bermuda, the National Weather Service’s Hurricane Center said in a 1:30 p.m. update Monday.

The system does not have the “well-defined center of circulation” forecasters look for in a possible tropical storm, the National Weather Service said. The conditions are there “for the formation of a short-lived subtropical or tropical cyclone later today or tonight,” the NWS said.

If the storm does turn into a tropical cyclone, it probably won’t last for long, the Hurricane Center said. “Conditions are forecast to become unfavorable for further development by late Tuesday, and the disturbance is expected to merge with a cold front on Wednesday.”

If the cyclone does form into a tropical storm, with winds of at least 74 mph, it will be named Andrea.

The Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 through Nov. 30.