Could The Hurricane Season's First Big Storm Develop Off Coast This Week?

By TOM DAVIS (Patch Staff)

The hurricane season runs from June through November, but a strong storm could develop off the Atlantic coast this week, forecasters say.

What’s being called a possible “subtropical cyclone” could develop off the coast, although what ultimately happens will depend on what’s going on in the atmosphere, according to the Weather Channel.

Winds and seas are likely to kick up along part of the East Coast beginning in the middle of the week, according to AccuWeather.

Hurricane expert Dan Kottlowski said on AccuWeather’s website that the system is forecast to form east of Florida, near the Bahamas in a pool of warm water, and then move northward later this week.

Weather Channel senior meteorologist Stu Ostro noted that water temperatures are generally running above average in the Bahamas and over the Gulf Stream, which would help fuel thunderstorms near the low-pressure system’s circulation.

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This low-pressure system may not be a tropical depression or storm like those in the Atlantic or Pacific oceans during the summer. But it could be a combination of those, known as a subtropical cyclone, according to the Weather Channel.

Because of this hybrid nature, the National Hurricane Center could issue advisories and forecasts for subtropical depressions and storms, and assign a number or name like it does for a tropical storm, according to the Weather Channel.

By mid to late week, that low-pressure system near the Bahamas or Southeast coast may sprout enough “convection” to be called a subtropical depression or storm, according to the report.

The National Weather Service is not giving much hint that a “tropical depression” could be coming to the west coast of Florida this week, other than predicting that storms are a likely part of the forecast Tuesday through Thursday.

Graphic: Weather Channel

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