Tropical Storm Victor forms in the east Atlantic, continuing busy 2021 season

By Derek Van Dam, CNN Meteorologist

Tropical Storm Victor formed Wednesday afternoon in the eastern Atlantic, the second to last name on this year’s list — a feat that’s reserved for only the most active hurricane seasons.

The National Hurricane Center initiated advisories Wednesday morning on the latest tropical depression to form, maintaining the momentum of our super-charged tropical season.

Located several hundred miles south of the Cape Verde islands, this newly formed tropical storm off the west coast of Africa had sustained winds of 40 miles per hour in the evening. It is forecast to track northwest and continue to strengthen into a hurricane in the coming days.

Fortunately, the storm is not expected to threaten land.

Tropical Storm Victor is exhibiting a classic counterclockwise spin on satellite imagery, a feature that forecasters look for when identifying tropical systems.

The spinning cluster of thunderstorms “now has a well defined circulation and that the radius of maximum wind is 30-40 mi north of the center,” said the NHC in its discussion.

The formation of a central circulation, along with sustained winds over 39 miles per hour and a drop in pressure, help characterize this as a tropical storm.

Active hurricane season forges ahead

The emergence of Victor marks an above-average season that continues to unfold. Following Victor, Wanda will be named next before a completely new list of names is introduced for the remainder of the season.

After the record-shattering season in 2020, the World Meteorological Organization decided to do away with the Greek alphabet as the list we would use if we ran out of hurricane names.

When we compare the 2021 season to date, to the historic hurricane season of 2020, a common theme prevails; its been busy. Some notable differences emerge though, including the fact that the Greek alphabet had already been in use and we had had four 2020 hurricane landfalls along the US coastline compared to just two so far this year.

Hurricane Sam continues to march across the open Atlantic

Not to be overshadowed by the newly formed tropical storm is the much smaller Hurricane Sam.

Although it has been small, it has been very strong. The Category 4 hurricane has sustained winds of 130 mile per hour, and is slowly moving northwest. It is forecast to continue this trajectory before turning north this weekend while picking up forward speed and steering east of Bermuda.

It is expected to remain a major hurricane into this weekend and may even strengthen some as it moves into favorable ocean waters. High surf will begin to impact Bermuda by Friday.

Sam will have no impacts on land except for high surf along the Bermuda coastline.

Multiple areas to monitor for potential development

Other than Sam and the newly formed Tropical Storm Victor, two other areas are being monitored for tropical mischief within the next five days.

Although chances remain low, roughly 30% for the cluster of storms southwest of the Cape Verde Islands and 10% for the remnants of what was Tropical Storm Peter, the disturbances pose no risk to land.

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