Ana could form soon near Bermuda. Forecasters are watching another system, too
Will hurricane season start early this year? It looks like it.
Ana, the first named storm of the season, could form in the Atlantic near Bermuda, and far from Florida, as early as Friday. Forecasters are also monitoring a disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico that is forecast to bring heavy rainfall to parts of Texas and Louisiana during the next few days.
Neither system is a threat to Florida, according to the National Hurricane Center’s advisory at 8 p.m. Friday.
Forecasters say the disturbance over the western Gulf of Mexico is producing disorganized showers and thunderstorms. It could turn into a short-lived tropical depression or storm before moving inland over the northwestern Gulf of Mexico late Friday.
It is about 150 miles east-southeast of Corpus Christi, Texas and producing winds of 30 to 35 mph.
The disturbance has a 50% chance of developing in the next five days or 48 hours. Regardless of whether the disturbance develops, the forecast calls for several days of heavy rainfall in parts of southeastern Texas and southwestern Louisiana.
The disturbance in the Atlantic is described as a non-tropical low-pressure area about 250 miles northeast of Bermuda, according to the hurricane center.
The system is forecast to move west-southwest over warmer waters, which will likely strengthen it into a subtropical storm later Friday or Saturday near or to the northeast of Bermuda, which is under a tropical storm watch.
A subtropical storm has features of both tropical and non-tropical systems and is named from the same list the hurricane center uses for tropical storms and hurricanes. If it does strengthen into a storm, Ana will be born.
Forecasters say it will move north over the weekend into a more “hostile environment,” away from the United States and into the open Atlantic.
As of the 8 p.m. advisory, the disturbance has a 90% chance of formation in the next 48 hours or in the next five days.
The Atlantic hurricane season begins on June 1, and NOAA’s pre-season forecast suggests it could be another “above average” year of storms — with 13 to 20 names storms and 6 to 10 hurricanes.
This story was originally published May 20, 2021 at 7:58 PM.
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