Atlantic Tropical Update

Tropical activity in the Atlantic Ocean has really heated up since our last update regarding Subtropical Storm Fay. Fay has strengthened over the past few days and has become Hurricane Fay; the fifth hurricane of the 2014 Atlantic hurricane season.

Hurricane Fay is a category 1 hurricane is currently located nearly 300 miles northeast of Bermuda and is moving ENE at a brisk 25mph. Minimum low pressure has dropped to 986mb with maximum sustained winds of 75mph.

Fay is expected to move into an area of wind shear which will weaken the storm significantly over the next few days. Check out the latest track map from the National Hurricane Center which predicts Fay to move east and become extratropical by tomorrow morning.

Fay is not the only disturbance in the Atlantic Ocean right now, farther to the south Topical Storm Gonzalo has formed 150 miles east of Antigua. The storm is moving west at 12mph and has a low pressure of 1004mb with maximum sustained winds of 45mph. As a result, tropical storm warnings have been posted for portions of the Virgin Islands and a hurricane watch is in effect for Puerto Rico.

Locations in the Caribbean will need to keep an eye on this storm as it could become a hurricane later this week. Luckily, model guidance is in good agreement that Gustavo will turn east after passing Puerto Rico and move away from the U.S.

It is not out of the ordinary for us to be seeing hurricanes form in October, as ocean temperatures are still pretty warm. The Atlantic Hurricane season will officially run until November 30.