Hurricane season awakening?
What has been a surprisingly quiet season showing signs of life.
We haven't heard many complaints from coastal residents or property owners, but for a hurricane season that everyone agreed would be "active," so far this one has been uneventful.
Seven named storms -- those with winds of 39 m.p.h. or better -- have formed in the Atlantic Basin since June 1, the official start of the season.
That's about average. But not one of them has become a hurricane -- with peak winds of at least 74 m.p.h. -- not even a single Category 1.
On average, three hurricanes form by Sept. 9, according to the National Hurricane Center archives, and Sept. 10 marks the season's climatological peak.
Hurricane center spokesman Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist, is on record as saying that if one doesn't form by 8 a.m. Wednesday, that would be record for the latest-forming first hurricane in the satellite-tracking era.
That is not a done deal, however. The hurricane center says that a wave in the Cape Verde area has a decent chance of becoming a tropical storm in the next 48 hours, with an 80 percent probability that will happen in the next five days.
AccuWeather notes that the storm likely will track away from the wind shear and dry air that has get a lid on the season so far.
No matter what, any potential hurricane threat is days and days away from the U.S. coast.