2023-06-24 09:12:32
SAN JUAN (AP) — Tropical Storm Cindy formed behind Tropical Storm Bret in the first case of two tropical Atlantic storms in June since records began in 1851, forecasters reported Friday.
The historic development signals an early and vigorous start to the Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1 and typically peaks between mid-August and mid-October. Some meteorologists blamed this unusual circumstance on unusually high sea temperatures.
“The Atlantic is terribly hot this year,” warned Kerry Emanuel, a meteorologist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She added that this is partly due to global warming, natural variability, and the ocean recovering from the sulfate aerosol pollution that cooled it decades ago.
Studies show that global warming is producing wetter and more intense hurricanes, while scientists are still trying to figure out whether climate change will alter the number of storms that form each season.
Because there were more early and preseason storms, the National Hurricane Center began issuing advisories earlier than usual, and experts recently debated the idea of moving up the official start of the hurricane season.
Emanuel stressed that throughout the Atlantic Ocean — not just the tropical Atlantic — storms are not uncommon in June. This has happened 34 times, including this year, since 1851, he added.
Cindy is expected to maintain tropical storm status as it heads into the northeastern Caribbean toward open ocean before dissipating early next week.
Meanwhile, Bret brought winds, heavy rain and storm surge of up to 15 feet (4.5 meters) to the eastern Caribbean islands, which had braced for possible mudslides and flooding after his arrival Thursday night.
Authorities on the French Caribbean island of Martinique found four people aboard a lifeboat after their catamaran sank during the storm and said they had been hospitalized.
Power outages were reported in Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and at least 130 people took refuge in government shelters as the storm swept away one house and severely damaged several others, authorities said.
Officials in Barbados said they have received more than a dozen reports of damage across the island, according to the Caribbean Disaster and Emergency Management Agency.
Bret continued to move through the central Caribbean late Friday, passing north of the islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao. According to forecasts, it is expected to dissipate on Saturday night.
As of late Friday, its vortex was about 120 kilometers (75 miles) northeast of Curaçao and moving west toward open water at 30 km/h (18 mph), with maximum sustained winds of 85 km/h. (50 mph).
For its part, Cindy’s maximum sustained winds were around 85 km/h (50 mph) on Friday night and the meteor was 1,185 km (735 miles) east of the Lesser Antilles.
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has forecast 12 to 17 named storms for this year’s hurricane season. Of these, between five and nine could reach hurricane strength, including three Category 3 or greater hurricanes.
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