Hurricanes

NOAA has released its seasonal hurricane outlook for the Atlantic basin, and due to warm waters and a diminishing El Niño, the agency believes the year could be ferocious.

Colorado State University hurricane researchers have released their initial outlook for the upcoming Atlantic hurricane season, which they believe promises to be an extremely active year, courtesy of an impending La Niña.

Akará is the first named system in the South Atlantic Basin since 2022.

Since 1980, half of the 197 tropical cyclones rated a Category 5 happened within the past 17 years. Five of the storms would have met the hypothetical Category 6, according to the study.

Studies and hurricane experts have warned since the early 2000s that the hurricane forecast cone is not doing its job as people often misinterpret the graphic.

According to initial estimates, between $3-$4 billion worth of damage was done during the 2023 hurricane season.

In Acapulco, families held funerals for the dead on Sunday and continued the search for essentials while government workers and volunteers cleared streets clogged with muck and debris.

The images reveal the extensive damage to the Pearl of the Pacific, which has resulted in the tragic loss of at least 27 lives. Four people were still missing at last check from Mexico’s Minister of Security and Civil Protection.

Acapulco, known as the Pearl of the Pacific, is recovering after being pummeled by deadly Hurricane Otis, the most powerful storm on record for the Pacific coast of Mexico.

Otis was the strongest hurricane to ever make landfall on the Pacific side of Mexico. It was also the first time an Eastern Pacific hurricane made landfall at Category 5 intensity.

Potential Tropical Cyclone Sixteen organized and strengthened into Tropical Storm Ophelia on Friday as it moves toward North Carolina. A Hurricane watch has been issued for parts of eastern North Carolina due to the storm reaching near hurricane strength.

Invest 97L strengthened into Tropical Depression Fifteen in the Atlantic on Friday and is well on its way to eventually becoming Tropical Storm Nigel.

While the center of the storm will likely stay east of the U.S. and move into the Canadian Maritimes, Lee's massive wind field is hundreds of miles across and will not spare the New England coast from its wrath.

The National Hurricane Center in coordination for local National Weather Services offices issued a Hurricane Watch from Stonington, Maine to the U.S.- Canada border and a Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for from Watch Hill, Rhode Island to Stonington, Maine.

The latest analysis shows Lee has sustained wind speeds of around 120 mph, making the storm a Category 3, as it slowly churns in the southwestern Atlantic ocean.