The National Hurricane Center says Tropical Storm Epsilon has become the 27th named storm of the 2020 hurricane season.
It is in the Atlantic.
"Maximum sustained winds are near 40 mph," the Hurricane Center advised. "Gradual strengthening is forecast during the next 72 hours, and
Epsilon is forecast to be at or near hurricane strength by early Thursday."
The only land in the forecast cone of error is the island of Bermuda.
"Epsilon is stationary and little overall motion is expected through tonight. A slow west-northwestward to northwestward motion should begin on
Tuesday, and this motion should continue through midweek."
The path shows Epsilon moving east of Bermuda as a hurricane Friday.
The only time in recorded history that there have been 27 named storms was in 2005.
Benjamin Schott, lead meteorologist at the National Weather Service, New Orleans says we’re in a La Nina year.
And that means more tropical storm development.
“It’s still possible that there could be a number of storms developing in the month of November,” Schott says. “And honestly, even though Hurricane Season ends at the end of November, It wouldn’t be unlikely in the La Nina year if the Atlantic stays quite warm, you could see some December storms.”
He adds that another Gulf storm is not out of the question.
“I would love to say that Hurricane Season is over, but there’s still plenty of warm water in the Gulf of Mexico,” Schott says. “Even though we’ve had some cold fronts come through, knock down the sea surface temperatures which helps quite a bit in limiting our risk of a late season event. I can’t rule it out 100%.”
He urges everyone to pay attention.
“Hurricane Season runs through the end of November, so we still have some time, and just because they may not work their way into the Gulf, or something that impacts us here in Louisiana, it’s possible that there could be a number of storms develop in the Atlantic where sea surface temperatures are still quite warm.”
Schott says, however, chances of another threat to Louisiana are decreasing.
“I feel like everyone needs to keep an eye out, like we always would. But I kind of feel like we can let our guard down a little bit for now. As we continue to get these cold fronts through, that’s usually a good sign that we’re going to be spared anything through the rest of the year.
