It’s been a while since I posted anything, so I thought I would take this tranquil time to advertise a project I have been working on (slowly) over the last few years. I am combing through all the tropical systems globally and providing detailed maps that show maximum strength, landfalls, and any other pertinent information. There are similar projects being done, but this is my personal version. Eventually, I may put this on Google maps, but for now I’m having fun.
Anyway, if you are interested, go here: http://www.eas.slu.edu/People/Students/MFolmer/main.html
Click on any year and you get every single tropical system that developed in that year.
As for our current tropical season, we remain in a rather distinct lull in global activity (Accumulated Cyclone Energy is less than 50% of normal for the date in the Northern Hemisphere) and there are no signs of a significant uptick in activity over the next couple of weeks. I expect to go through a couple burst periods in the Atlantic starting around mid-August.
So, why has it been quiet? Well, the Atlantic has been particularly hostile so far (not very unusual), but as the seasons start to change, the Atlantic starts to get more favorable for development. Another culprit. . .look below! That bright orange and red area is a large SAL outbreak of dry, dusty air and this will keep things quiet for the upcoming week. These SAL events should be waning as we head into August, so don’t expect the quiet to last much longer. . .
I will be recapping the 2013 hurricane season so far in an upcoming post.
Thanks for reading!