April showers bring May flowers. But could they also bring an early start to hurricane season?
Meteorologists at AccuWeather say there’s the potential for a historically early named storm in the Gulf of Mexico in the coming days.
There hasn’t been an April occurrence of a named storm in six years: Tropical Storm Arlene formed in the Atlantic in 2017. But it didn’t make its way into the Gulf, meaning the subtropical system forecasters are eyeing this time could make history.
Coincidentally, the first name lined up for the 2023 hurricane season is Arlene.
Generally the Gulf’s water temperature isn’t hot enough in April to facilitate full-on tropical storms, but forecasters say the temperature currently is between five and eight degrees higher than the historical average in the northern areas of the Gulf.
And they warn that even subtropical systems can prove hazardous for those in their path.
