Tropical Storm Fernand winds down, leaving an empty Atlantic for now
The only active system in the Atlantic — at least, for now — is winding down.
Tropical Storm Fernand has weakened from its initial strength when it was first named on Saturday, and the National Hurricane Center predicts the storm will dissipate in the next two days.
But not before one final spurt of slightly higher energy, forecasters said Tuesday morning. Fernand is thousands of miles from land and traveling in a cool pocket of the Gulf Current. Forecasters said it could stumble into a warmer patch of water soon, giving it a slight boost before it winds down for good.
After that, the hurricane center forecasts no new tropical activity for the next seven days.
With three months of hurricane season to go, that still leaves plenty of time for the additional storms that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts will occur this season.
Hurricane season formally ends November 30, and so far there have been six named storms — with Erin the only hurricane or major hurricane.
NOAA predicted that this above-average season would include 13 to 18 named storms, five to nine of which could become hurricanes and two to five of which could become major hurricanes.
