Tropical Storm Cindy Threatens Caribbean - The New York Times

Tropical Storm Cindy Threatens Caribbean - The New York Times

Supported by
Continue reading the main story

Cindy Becomes Second Active Storm to Threaten Caribbean

The tropical storm, which formed late Thursday, was still well out to sea and trailing Tropical Storm Bret, which caused damaged on some islands in the Caribbean.

Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Note: All times are in Atlantic Standard Time, which is the same as Eastern time.

By Madison Dong

Judson Jones is a meteorologist and reporter for The Times.

A day after becoming the second active tropical storm to threaten the Caribbean, Cindy was gradually strengthening on Friday, although it remained well out to sea and posed no immediate threat to land.

Cindy, the third named storm of this year’s Atlantic hurricane season, was nearly 1,000 miles east of the Lesser Antilles as of early Friday, and moving northwest at around 15 miles per hour, the National Hurricane Center said.

Cindy was trailing Tropical Storm Bret, which caused damage in St. Vincent and the Grenadines on Thursday and was headed west toward Central America.

The Hurricane Center said Cindy had sustained winds of 45 m.p.h., with higher gusts. Tropical disturbances that have sustained winds of 39 m.p.h. earn a name. Once winds reach 74 m.p.h., a storm becomes a hurricane, and at 111 m.p.h. it becomes a major hurricane.

On the forecast track, Cindy is expected to remain well northeast of the northern Leeward Islands through early next week.

Cindy is actually the fourth tropical cyclone to reach tropical storm strength this year. The Hurricane Center announced in May that it had reassessed a storm that formed off the Northeastern United States in mid-January and determined that it was a subtropical storm, making it the Atlantic’s first cyclone of the year.

However, the storm was not retroactively given a name, making Arlene, which formed in the Gulf of Mexico on June 2, the first named storm in the Atlantic basin this year.

The Atlantic hurricane season started on June 1 and runs through Nov. 30.

The 2023 Hurricane Names

The National Weather Service has released the storm names for the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season, which starts June 1 and runs through Nov. 30.

Atlantic hurricanes are named according to six rotating alphabetical lists. Here are the new hurricane names →

In late May, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted that there would be 12 to 17 named storms this year, a “near-normal” amount. There were 14 named storms last year, after two extremely busy Atlantic hurricane seasons in which forecasters ran out of names and had to resort to backup lists. (A record 30 named storms took place in 2020.)

However, NOAA did not express a great deal of certainty in its forecast this year, saying there was a 40 percent chance of a near-normal season, a 30 percent chance of an above-normal season and another 30 percent chance of a below-normal season.

There were indications of above-average ocean temperatures in the Atlantic, which could fuel storms, and the potential for an above-normal West African monsoon. The monsoon season produces storm activity that can lead to some of the more powerful and longer-lasting Atlantic storms.

This year also features El Niño, which arrived this month. The intermittent climate phenomenon can have wide-ranging effects on weather around the world, including a reduction in the number of Atlantic hurricanes.

“It’s a pretty rare condition to have the both of these going on at the same time,” Matthew Rosencrans, the lead hurricane forecaster with the Climate Prediction Center at NOAA, said in May.

In the Atlantic, El Niño increases the amount of wind shear, or the change in wind speed and direction from the ocean or land surface into the atmosphere. Hurricanes need a calm environment to form, and the instability caused by increased wind shear makes those conditions less likely. (El Niño has the opposite effect in the Pacific, reducing the amount of wind shear.)Even in average or below-average years, there is a chance that a powerful storm will make landfall.

As global warming worsens, that chance increases. There is solid consensus among scientists that hurricanes are becoming more powerful because of climate change. Although there might not be more named storms overall, the likelihood of major hurricanes is increasing.

Climate change is also affecting the amount of rain that storms can produce. In a warming world, the air can hold more moisture, which means a named storm can hold and produce more rainfall, like Hurricane Harvey did in Texas in 2017, when some areas received more than 40 inches of rain in less than 48 hours.

Researchers have also found that storms have slowed down, sitting over areas for longer, over the past few decades.

When a storm slows down over water, the amount of moisture the storm can absorb increases. When the storm slows over land, the amount of rain that falls over a single location increases; in 2019, for example, Hurricane Dorian slowed to a crawl over the northwestern Bahamas, resulting in a total rainfall of 22.84 inches in Hope Town during the storm.

Other potential effects of climate change include greater storm surge, rapid intensification and a broader reach of tropical systems.

Livia Albeck-Ripka contributed reporting.

Judson Jones is a meteorologist and reporter for The Times, covering the most extreme storms across the globe. @thejudsonjones

Explore Our Weather Coverage

Latest News
A powerful storm
struck the northern Texas town of Matado r, killing several people, as heavy rain and hailstorms were reported in parts of the state as well as Colorado. Thousands of people in Oklahoma were left without power after severe storms.
Sweltering triple-digit temperatures are forecast in Texas, Oklahoma and several other U.S. states.
Track the heat here.
Tropical Storm Bret, which formed as the second named storm of the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season,
is forecast to bring strong winds and heavy rain to the Lesser Antilles.

Helpful Things to Know
Extreme Weather Maps: Track the possibility of extreme weather
in the places that are important to you.
Heat Safety: Heat waves are becoming increasingly common across the world. Here is
how to keep yourself and your loved ones cool, hydrated and healthy.
Climate Change Effects: Scientists have been able to draw links between a warming planet and hurricanes, heat waves and droughts. It has been
harder to establish the same connection with tornadoes.
Flood Safety: Fast rising water
can be deadly. Here’s what to do if you’re caught off guard, and how to prepare for a future flooding event.
Evacuating Pets: When disaster strikes, household pets’ lives are among the most vulnerable.
You can avoid the worst by planning ahead.