Rare Tropical Storm Possible in April

There's a chance for a rare tropical storm possible in April. One that could effect Florida. We might have to start watching the tropics early this year.  A story on ClickOrlando.com came out that conditions are right for a tropical disturbance to possibly form in the Gulf or the Atlantic.  Possibly.  Not happening.  But, could happen.  Just a good idea to note that weather is changing and we are already seeing hotter temps earlier then normal, so the possibility of storms could happen earlier than normal. 87 degrees today in Fort Myers. It's 84 degrees in Naples.

It’s not out of the question, last time a storm developed in April was in 2017.    There is nothing to be alarmed about right now, but computer models are starting to hint at the potential for a developing storm in the Gulf of Mexico next week.

The cold front that we are getting on Easter looks like it will stall out over the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic.  This front would be the focal point for a developing disturbance.   First of all, if something does develop, it would be too early to tell if it would be a tropical system or a hybrid subtropical storm.  A hybrid storm is fueled by both warm water and differences in temperature in the atmosphere.

The water temperature in the Gulf is already around 80, so that is right where it needs to be for storms to develop.  Water temps are above normal.  The air temperatures are above average already.  We are in need of rain bad here with a drought warnings throughout most of Florida, but we don’t wish for a tropical depression to form.

Hurricane Season officially starts June 1 and lasts through November.  Daily updates from the National Hurricane Center begin May 15.

The last time a named storm developed in the Atlantic was Tropical Storm Arlene in 2017.  The year of Hurricane Irma. Interestingly, the first name on the list for the 2023 season is also Arlene.  After what Southwest Florida went through last year, we're really not looking to start this again.

Colorado State University issues their first forecast for the upcoming season on April 13.

This can't be good. The 2023 Hurricane Names list is out. It looks like it's already time to start thinking about the hurricane season in Southwest Florida. But why did they have to name one of this year's storms "Lee"? Like Lee County wasn't punished enough last year, let's go ahead and do this.

The National Hurricane Center is making a change to reporting of the storms for the 2023 season. Instead of the usual 5 day, they're switching to a 7-day tropical weather outlook. More info and a longer timeline is always better. The yellow, orange, and red color coding for development will not change and we'll still get regular updates at 2 p.m., 8 p.m., 2 a.m. and 8 a.m. EDT.

As far as the names go, they use a list that repeats every 6 years minus the really bad ones. The 2017 season was ugly. The season featured 17 named storms, 10 hurricanes, and 6 major hurricanes. Three of the names that year were retired, Harvey, Irma and Maria. You'll certainly remember Irma as it hit Southwest Florida near Marco Island as a Category 3 hurricane with winds of 115 mph. The name 'Irma' has been retired. Then there was last year's Ian.  This year's 'I' storm will be named Idalia. I'm not sure how to pronounce that and here's to hoping we don't have to learn.

Here's the 2023 Hurricane Names, and a fact about that last time each name was used.

In 2017, Tropical Storm Arlene formed on April 16. It was not a major storm, but it kinda let us know what was coming.

The 2017 version of Bret targeted Venezuela in June.

The 2017 Tropical Storm Cindy targeted  Louisiana, spawned tornadoes, and killed 3. 

In July of 2017, Tropical Storm Don formed but didn't last.

2017 Emily directed effected us. Heavy rainfall produced by Emily caused widespread flooding in Polk and Pinellas counties. Coastal flooding was reported in Hillsborough,  Manatee,  Sarasota, Lee, and Collier counties, causing additional road closures. A tornado touched down Bradenton, destroying two barns and multiple greenhouses. The storm indirectly led to flooding in Miami where 6.97 in of rain fell in 3.5 hours. 

The 2017 Hurricane Franklin hit central America on July 27th.

The 2017 Hurricane Gert skirted by North Carolina's Outer Banks and then set it's sights on - Ireland. That's right, Gert looped all the way back around and was responsible for flooding in Ireland.

Harold is new to list after the 2017 Harvey was retired. However, the name Harold has been used before. Severe Tropical Cyclone Harold was a very powerful tropical cyclone which caused widespread destruction in the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, and Tonga during April 2020.

The next new name to the list. NOAA actually a pronunciation list. Idalia ee-DAL-ya. Maybe the I storm can skip us this year.

2017 Hurricane Jose was massive and nearly a category 5.  But then, a large mid-latitude low-pressure area offshore Atlantic Canada and the circulation associated with Hurricane Irma resulted in the collapse of steering currents, causing Jose to decelerate and execute a cyclonic loop. Off to sea.

Katia KAH-tyah

In September of 2017,  Katia struck Mexico just days after a major earthquake struck the country

On September 26, 2017 Hurricane Lee became a Cat 2 but was never a threat to land. I do wish, however, that NHC would consider not using the name seeing as how large portions of Lee County are still a mess from last year. It's not like we need the reminder.

A new name after the 2017 Maria name was retired. I'm assuming they picked the name Margot after watching Christmas Vacation. If a Hurricane Margot forms this year, I'd expect memes.

Clearly a Spinal Tap reference. Again, expect memes.

In 2017, Ophelia went to the right. On October 16, Ophelia ceased to be a tropical cyclone after merging with a strong cold front about 310 mi  southwest of Mizen Head, Ireland. The extratropical low made landfall on the west coast of Ireland at Category 1-equivalent intensity later that day, several hours before striking northern Scotland. 

Philippe fee-LEEP

The 2017 Tropical Storm Philippe spawned three  tornadoes in southeastern Florida. One of those damaged dozens of homes in Boynton Beach, while another produced a wind gust of 74 mph in West Palm Beach.

Rina REE-nuh

2017 Tropical Storm Rina formed on November 7th and did not make landfall.

Rina was the last named storm of 2017. The 2011 Tropical Storm Sean was the last named storm of 2011. It formed on November 8th and didn't amount to much.

Let's just hope we don't get this far.

Hopefully not needed.

That's the last on the list. Here's to hoping we don't need them.

Some info from Wikipedia was used. The names list comes from the National Hurricane Center. They've actually posted a preliminary list all the way through 2027 but will make updates if any of the names are retired.