Fred fizzling
The season’s second Atlantic hurricane spinning toward obscurity.
All the outlooks suggested that this would be generally gentle Atlantic hurricane season, and with the annual peak period approaching, the forecasts are holding serve.
Fred, which began the workweek as a hurricane, is barely hanging on to its name.
At 11 a.m., the National Hurricane Center reported that its peak winds were down to 40 m.p.h. – that would be exactly 1 m.p.h. higher than the minimum threshold for a named tropical storm.
By this time tomorrow, the hurricane center expects Fred to be a mere remnant, with maximum winds at 30 m.p.h.
Fred was about 1,200 miles off the African coast and about a continent away from the U.S. mainland.
It is expected to move west-northwest, curve northeast, and then spin into oblivion.
On average in the Atlantic Basin, which includes the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean, Sept. 10 marks the crest of tropical-storm activity.
So far, tropical storm numbers are right about where they should be; the storms just haven't had much impact – not that we're complaining.