Tropical Storm Ana is here. It is no threat to land or anyone. It will harmlessly spin over the open Atlantic. However it continues a troubling trend. Named storms continue developing before the official Atlantic hurricane season begins.
The Latest on Ana
Visible Satellite Imagery 5AM AST – Tropical Storm Ana
You are looking at the satellite imagery of Tropical Storm Ana at 5:00 AM Atlantic time Sunday, May 23rd. This is the first we are seeing it on visible satellite today as sunlight catches it post-sunrise. For reference, you will see Hamilton, Bermuda southwest of Ana.
Ana formed just about 180 miles northeast of Bermuda early Saturday morning. This notable spin has not moved much since then. As of 5:00 AM AST, Ana has a central pressure of 1006 mb, maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (40 knots) and moving NE at 12 mph.
It is moving away from Bermuda and is no threat to the island, or any land.
Tropical Storm Ana forecast (wide view).
When Is the Atlantic Hurricane Season?
Ana first formed into what is called a ‘Subtropical Storm’ early Saturday morning. That was 10 days before the official start of the Atlantic Hurricane Season on June 1st.
This makes it the seventh year in a row a named storm formed ‘before’ schedule. Hurricane season is an easy to remember June 1st to November 30th. Maximum activity occurs in early to mid September. Tropical storms and hurricanes clearly do not respect the rules of a calendar with these ‘out of season’ storms.
Decisions are already being considered to move the start to the Atlantic Hurricane Season earlier on the calendar to adjust for this trend.
Dates for the Atlantic hurricane season have changed in the past. The last time was in 1965
What Is Next For Ana?
From the National Hurricane Center: “There are no coastal watches or warnings in effect. Satellite images indicate that Ana has contracted significantly since yesterday and now has a compact area of moderate convection around the center.
Given the tight low-level circulation, small radius of maximum wind, and compact central convection, Ana is now estimated to have transitioned from a subtropical storm to a tropical storm. At 5 a.m. AST Sunday, the center of now Tropical Storm Ana was located over the Atlantic Ocean about 340 miles (545 km) northeast of Bermuda.
It’s moving toward the northeast near 12 mph (19 km/h) and this heading with an increase in forward speed is expected to occur during the next day or so. Maximum sustained winds are near 45 mph (75 km/h) with higher gusts. Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 60 miles (95 km) from the center. Slight weakening is expected to take place during the next 24 hours and Ana is expected to dissipate by Monday.”
You can go to the NHC website for more advisories on Ana.
The 2021 Hurricane Season Prediction
NOAA predicts another active Atlantic hurricane season. The NOAA outlook predicts a likelihood of 13 to 20 named storms with three to five major hurricanes.
A summary infographic showing hurricane season probability and numbers of named storms predicted from NOAA’s 2021 Atlantic Hurricane Season Outlook. (NOAA)
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Joe Hansel
Lead Morning Meteorologist
Joe graduated with a bachelor’s in meteorology with a minor in mathematics from the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks. He also interned at Studio One in UND while earning awards as a student broadcaster and teaching assistant along the way. During summers off from college, Joe was the weather intern for the KSTP weather team based in the Twin Cities. Joe then worked as the morning meteorologist for 2 years at KCWY in Casper, Wyoming; then 4 years as the morning meteorologist at WSJV in South Bend-Elkhart, IN. There, Joe became a Certified Broadcast Meteorologist (CBM) through the American Meteorological Society and still owns the earned seal.