Yet again, we have the first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season before the start of the season on June 1.
Ana shouldn't get particularly strong, but it's the 7th year in a row that we have had a named storm before the start of th season.
Anthropogenic climate is change, and we are getting hammered by it today.
It's only going to get worse:
Although Ana has some tropical characteristics, it is considered "subtropical" because it is associated with a low-pressure system in the upper atmosphere, and its maximum winds are located farther from its center. Ana should not strengthen significantly above its current maximum of 45 mph winds and should dissipate by early next week as it moves away from Bermuda.
Despite its relative weakness, Ana is notable for a couple of reasons. This is the seventh consecutive year, dating to 2015, in which a "named" storm has formed in the Atlantic basin—which includes the northern Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico—before June 1. The beginning of June traditionally marks the official start of the Atlantic hurricane season.
Due to this trend toward earlier storms, which is at least partly attributable to climate change and the Atlantic Ocean warming earlier, the US government's National Hurricane Center has considered moving the start date of the season to May 15. However, in something of a compromise, the agency decided to begin forecasting storms earlier but not declare an earlier official start.
"To provide more consistent information on the potential for late May and early June systems," the agency said, it would begin to provide tropical weather outlooks four times daily, beginning on May 15.
Those outlooks have been needed this year. In addition to Ana, forecasters tracked another disturbance on Friday and early Saturday in the Gulf of Mexico that showed some signs of organizing. However, it moved inland, into the Central Texas coast, early on Saturday before attaining status as a tropical depression.
This is not going to end well.
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