The first system to be seen is Tropical Storm Laura, which is currently over Puerto Rico. This system is expected to move northwest in the coming days and towards Hispaniola and Cuba.
The second system, Tropical Storm Marco, is located just east of the Yucatan Peninsula. This system is expected to move across the peninsula as it dumps several inches of rain before continuing north to the US.
Having two systems that are so close to the US at the same time complicates things to say the least.
“It’s always difficult to predict hurricanes, especially their intensity,” says CNN meteorologist Dave Hennen. “In this case, it is difficult to say at this point which storm will be the strongest. The storms could potentially interact with each other and that makes this forecast (if two) even more complicated.”
The focus is on the Gulf of Mexico
Both systems are brought to the Gulf of Mexico. At the same time. This is rare. In fact, we’ve only twice in the recorded history ever had two systems that were at the same time tropical storm force as stronger in the Gulf. Once on June 18, 1959, and again on September 5, 1933.
Currently, both storms could potentially intensify to hurricane strength as they move through the Gulf of Mexico.
“We have never had two hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico at the same time,” said Phil Klotzbach, a tropical researcher for Colorado State University.
At present, these systems are still several days away from affecting the US, so there is a lot that can change. Since there are two systems to play here, essentially everything from Texas to Florida is an option.
The National Hurricane Center stated that “Near the end of the period, [tropical storm] Marco’s track and intensity could be influenced by Tropical Storm Laura, which is also predicted to be over the Gulf of Mexico, “although the details of that interaction are not yet clear.
Unreported evacuations. According to CNN meteorologist Chad Myers, “The Gulf of Mexico is very hot and conducive to very rapid intensification. Two land-based hurricanes near each other make evacuation plans that much more difficult.”
We are still weeks away from peak of hurricane season
The statistical peak of Atlantic hurricane season is September 10, which is still several weeks away. What’s more is that 85% of the major hurricanes (category 3 and above) occur after August 20, but we’ve already had a very active season.
When Tropical Storm Laura was named on Friday, it set a record for the first “L” named storm. That happened eight other times by 2020, as Cristobal, Edouard, Fay, Gonzalo, Hanna, Isaias, Josephine, and Kyle also reached the same record for their respective letters. Tropical Storm Marco quickly followed Friday night and became the first 13th named storm.
There are many comparisons there with the record-breaking 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. Not only is this year’s hurricane season currently on pace to match the number of named storms in 2005, it also happened to be a year where La Niña developed in the fall.
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