The latest Atlantic named storm, Tropical Storm Don, formed today as it chugged westward across the Atlantic. However, it is expected to continue to move almost straight west into less favorable conditions and is expected to dissipate within 72 hours. What makes this interesting for us in the Southeast is that this is the fourth named storm of the year, about a month earlier than the average date of the fourth named storm in late August. Looks like the tropics are setting up as expected to be more active than usual, and that could mean interesting weather in the next few months if (and probably when) a storm heads for us. You can read about it at Weather Underground here.
Keep in mind that it’s been 4,284 days (nearly 12 years) since the last major hurricane (Category 3 or higher) made landfall on the mainland U.S. – the longest period of time ever between major hurricane hits. On average, a major hurricane makes landfall in the U.S. about once every three years,” according to NOAA’s 2016 hurricane season report. Could this be the year? We’ll have to wait and see.
