Tropical storm approaches, hurricane season begins

The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season is picking up speed.

A system in the Gulf of Mexico that will soon develop into Tropical Storm Alberto has triggered a tropical storm warning for the Texas coast, the first warning of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season. On Monday afternoon, the National Hurricane Center issued a warning for possible Tropical Storm One.

Heavy rains are expected along the western Gulf Coast, possibly causing flooding, the National Hurricane Center said, with up to 15 inches (380 mm) possible. The threat of heavy rains and flash flooding is expected to increase through Tuesday morning, according to Michael Brennan, director of the National Hurricane Center.

A tropical storm warning has been issued for the Texas coast from Port O’Connor southward to the mouth of the Rio Grande. The warning means that tropical storm conditions are possible in the region, usually within 48 hours.

“There is a potential for flooding and flash flooding over the next few days as heavy rains are already reaching parts of the Gulf Coast,” Brennan said in an update Monday afternoon. “This flooding threat will continue throughout the week.”

The system’s maximum sustained winds remained around 40 mph with stronger gusts as of 11 p.m. EST Monday. The National Hurricane Center described the system as “fairly large” with tropical storm-force winds extending as far as 290 miles northeast of the center.

The hurricane center predicted the system would develop into a tropical storm by Wednesday and advised residents along the western and northwestern Gulf Coast to monitor it closely.

As of 11 p.m. Monday, the system was moving north at about 7 mph, according to the hurricane center. It was expected to turn to the west-northwest by Tuesday night or Wednesday, and “the system is likely to approach the western Gulf Coast late Wednesday,” the hurricane center said in an alert late Monday.

It is one of two tropical systems – the other is in the Atlantic Ocean – that are expected to strengthen throughout the week and each could impact parts of the southern United States, meteorologists said Monday.

Alberto will be the first named storm of what is expected to be the most spectacular hurricane season in the Atlantic.

Tropical storm in the Gulf?

The Gulf system is expected to develop into a tropical depression and then a tropical storm before making landfall on Mexico’s northern Gulf Coast, AccuWeather reports. Once its sustained winds reach 39 mph (62 kph), it will become Tropical Storm Alberto.

Although the center of the storm is expected to make landfall in Mexico on Wednesday, the National Hurricane Center warned that heavy rains could continue to fall across parts of the northwestern Gulf of Mexico coast through mid-week. In addition, gale warnings have been issued for parts of the Gulf of Mexico.

Dan Pydynowski, AccuWeather’s senior meteorologist, said: “Although the tropical storm does not reach tropical storm strength, a plume of rich, deep tropical moisture is expected to move into Mexico, Texas and Louisiana by mid-week.”

Meteorologist Jim Cantore from the Weather Channel warned that “double-digit rainfall amounts are expected in coastal Texas counties and possibly Houston.” Flash flooding is possible in some parts of Texas, including Brownsville, Corpus Christi, Houston and San Antonio, according to Weather.com.

An Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft is scheduled to examine the system later Monday.

A busy season lies ahead:NOAA’s forecast for the 2024 hurricane season is unique. Check out the record-breaking predictions.

The Atlantic system must also be observed

Meteorologists also observed a tropical system forming in the Atlantic on Monday. The system, which was located several hundred miles east of the Bahamas on Monday, “is expected to approach the coast of the southeastern United States on Thursday or Friday,” the hurricane center said.

“This appears to be a fast-moving and compact low pressure system that will move westward into northeast Florida or perhaps as far north as southeast Georgia on Thursday,” Pydynowski said.

There is a risk of heavy rain from the storm from Melbourne, Florida to Charleston, South Carolina.

The National Weather Service in Jacksonville, Florida, warned of “numerous to widespread rain showers and interspersed severe storms moving intermittently toward the coast, with strong gusts being the main danger.”

An “extraordinary” year is possible

Once Alberto forms, it will be the start of what is expected to be a very stormy year. NOAA Director Rick Spinrad said last month that the Atlantic hurricane season appears to be “exceptional,” with an “85 percent chance of an above-average year.”

The record for most named storms in a season is 30, set in 2020. Based on weather records from 1991 to 2020, a typical year averages about 14 tropical storms, seven of which develop into hurricanes.

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