TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The Atlantic Ocean is bustling with activity as the 2023 hurricane season ramps up ahead of its most active time of year.
On Tuesday, the National Hurricane Center was monitoring three disturbances spread throughout the Atlantic basin: Invest 95L, and two areas of low pressure. By Wednesday morning, two of the three disturbances dissipated.
Southeastern Caribbean Sea
The NHC had been keeping a close eye on Invest 95L since it was first spotted on July 19. The tropical wave that hung over the southeastern Caribbean Sea produced a large area of disorganized showers and thunderstorms.
On Wednesday, the disturbance fizzled out.
Southwestern Atlantic
On Tuesday, the NHC was also tracking an area of low pressure located a few hundred miles south-southwest of Bermuda.
Forecasters said significant development of this system “appears unlikely” as it was forecast to move toward the southeastern U.S. coast over the next several days.
Similar to Invest 95L, the disturbance fizzled out by Wednesday morning.
“What we really knew about it the entire time, whether it organized or not, it was going to enhance chances for rain across the southwest as we head into the weekend,” Max Defender 8 Meteorologist Rebecca Barry said. “Now there’s no chance for it to develop — it’s basically juicing up the atmosphere across Florida, across George, across the South Carolina areas.”
Eastern Atlantic
Lastly, a tropical wave located southwest of the Cabo Verde Islands continues to turn heads. The NHC says some development is possible later this week and into the weekend as it moves over the tropical Atlantic.
For now, its chance of formation over the next seven days remains low at 30%.
Some questioned whether the unusually high sea surface temperatures near the Florida Keys would contribute to Colorado State University’s forecast for an “above-average” hurricane season, but forecasters say it’s just one of many factors.
“We have the warm waters out there. But the warm sea surface temperatures are just one ingredient for hurricanes,” WGNO Meteorologist Brantly Keiek said. “It really does help to act as fuel for some of those storms but when you have that high wind shear, and you have the dusty air out there that’s really drying things out, it makes it more difficult for those storms to get going.”
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