Stormy conditions on the horizon for 2020 Atlantic Hurricane season
Fox News meteorologists Adam Klotz has the latest.
June is the first official month of the Atlantic hurricane season and this year it is off to a fast start.
While still part of the hurricane season, June and July typically are some of the least active months. But this year the first two named storms, Arthur and Bertha, hit the East Coast before the season was officially underway.
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The third named storm of the season, Cristobal, formed just off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico.
This is a typical area for June storms to form and could continue to be a hot spot over the next month or more. Part of the reason is that shallower coastal waters through the Caribbean and Gulf warm faster than the rest of the Atlantic.
Tropical activity at the beginning of hurricane season tends to focus on the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean for the month of June. (Fox News)
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Water at temperatures of 80 degrees or higher provides the fuel for tropical storms and hurricanes needed to form and sustain themselves.
Warm water temperatures in this region in June help development of tropical systems. (Fox News)
That's why typical June storm paths are often from the Texas Gulf Coast to the Florida Panhandle.
The typical peak of the Atlantic hurricane season is from late August into early October. (Fox News)
This year, the water is already 1 to 3 degrees above its normal temperature.
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That warm water, plus less wind shear (the upper-level winds that stop tropical storm development), is the main reason why this is expected to be an active Atlantic hurricane season.
The 2020 hurricane season forecast from NOAA. (Fox News)
There are as many as 13 to 19 named storms predicted during the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center (CPC).
What you should about this year's 2020 Atlantic hurricane season. (Fox News)
Six to 10 of those could develop into hurricanes, with winds of 74 mph or more, and three to six could become major hurricanes, capable of devastating damage.
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This forecast is well above the averages of 12 named tropical storms, six hurricanes, and three major hurricanes during the season.
The names for the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season. (Fox News)
The 2020 Atlantic Hurricane Season will include the names: Arthur, Bertha, Cristobal, Dolly, Edouard, Fay, Gonzalo, Hanna, Isaias, Josephine, Kyle, Laura, Marco, Nana, Omar, Paulette, Rene, Sally, Teddy, Vicky and Wilfred.
Fox News' Travis Fedschun contributed to this report.
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