Hurricane Season Begins

Today June 1st marks the start of the Atlantic hurricane season which runs until November 30th. As in every year the Atlantic hurricane season is defined by tropical disturbances that develop along the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone or ITCZ. Throughout the season easterly waves called tropical waves migrate from east to west pushed along by the easterly trade winds. As these tropical waves propagate westward they encounter most of the time adverse upper level conditions along its journey in the Atlantic that prohibits them from developing into a minimal tropical cyclone that can trigger a tropical storm or even a full fledged hurricane. Only a small percentage of those tropical waves during the season ever become a tropical cyclone. The so called Cape Verde season is recognized for having the greatest percentage of those tropical waves developing into tropical cyclones and dangerous hurricanes during mid August until around the end of September. A perfect example of a Cape Verde season hurricane is Hurricane"Andrew" during the hurricane season of 1992 in the month of August. As a survivor of this category 5 devastating hurricane I know well the Cape Verde season is the breeding ground for major hurricanes that can effect the U.S east coast, the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. In the beginning of the hurricane season in the months of June and July tropical development tends to be in the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean and the Western Atlantic. In the middle of the season usually called the peak, development then shifts eastward near the west coast of Africa and the Eastern Atlantic in which the Cape Verde Islands are included. Finally, the latter part of the season then shifts westward again into the Northwestern Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico during the months of October and November.