This early storm in the ocean now has a name. But there’s no need for hurricane anxiety
Hurricane season doesn’t start until June 1, but there’s already a named storm churning in the Atlantic.
Don’t worry. South Florida is in the clear.
In fact, so is the rest of the U.S.
The subtropical storm is now downgraded to a depression and by Wednesday may well dissipate, according to the National Hurricane Center.
On Monday evening, hurricane forecasters gave it a name: Subtropical Storm Andrea. The disturbance, then about 300 miles southwest of Bermuda, is the first named storm of the season. The National Hurricane Center had been eying the storm for several days.
As of the 11 p.m. advisory Monday, the second issued for the storm, Andrea was packing winds of 40 mph and was moving north at 12 mph. The National Hurricane Center named the storm around 6 p.m. Monday.
But by Tuesday morning’s 10 a.m. advisory, the center downgraded Andrea..
Andrea’s winds declined to 35 mph. The system’s movement north slowed to 6 mph overnight and inched back up to 8 mph at the 10 a.m. advisory. The depression is now about 280 miles southwest of Bermuda.
“Continued weakening is forecast, and Andrea is expected to degenerate into a remnant low by this evening,” the hurricane center said.
The storm is expected to make a northeast and east turn by Tuesday evening and remain southwest and south of Bermuda, the hurricane center said, adding that people in Bermuda ought to pay attention to its movement into Wednesday.
This is the fifth time in the last five years in which forecasters have named a storm before the June 1 start of the season. Hurricane season runs from June 1 through Nov. 30.
The forecast track has Andrea remaining southwest or south of Bermuda.
This story was originally published May 20, 2019 at 10:58 PM.
