Tropical Outlook Week #19: Sam Exists, Watching Caribbean

Over the next week in the tropics, Hurricane Sam will transition into an extratropical storm over the North Atlantic. Sam has been around for a long time, in fact, the National Hurricane Center began monitoring the system on September 19. During its time in the Atlantic it reached category 4 status and became the strongest cyclone of the season in the Atlantic basin.

Elsewhere in the basin, our attention will turn to the Caribbean Sea, where all indications point towards the next significant cyclone forming. While there is nothing to immediately track, conditions during the week of October 11^th, will turn more favorable for tropical cyclone formation.

Climatologically, the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico are hotbeds for tropical activity. Dozens of tropical storms and hurricanes have impacted Florida during the months of October and December.

The next and last name on 2021 Atlantic basin list is Wanda. Once Wanda forms, the season will have had 21 named storms form. After Wanda, we’ll start on a new auxiliary list of storm names. Other than a brief spin-up in the Atlantic, no tropical cyclone activity is anticipated this week.