Tropical Storms and Hurricane Season

ECOSYSTEMS. HELLO, I'M JENNIFER CRAWFORD. THANK YOU FOR JOINING US. AFTER A QUIET START TO THE 2026 ATLANTIC HURRICANE SEASON. TROPICAL STORM EDOUARD MADE LANDFALL NEAR THE TEXAS LOUISIANA BORDER ON TUESDAY NIGHT. IT HAS SINCE BEEN DOWNGRADED. BUT FLORIDA IS NOT OUT OF THE WEEDS JUST YET. THE REMNANTS OF WHAT WAS TROPICAL STORM DOLLY HAVE SLOWLY MADE THEIR WAY ACROSS THE ATLANTIC AND ARE EXPECTED TO BRING MORE RAIN THROUGHOUT THE AREA. SO IS THIS FINALLY THE START OF THE RAINY SEASON? FOR WEATHER UPDATE? WE'RE JOINED BY MEGAN BOROSKI SENIOR METEOROLOGIST WITH F TREND. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US TODAY. ABSOLUTELY. IT'S A PLEASURE TO BE HERE. NOW WE'VE SEEN TROPICAL DEPRESSION ED WARD BRINGING LOTS OF RAIN TO TEXAS AND LOUISIANA ARE AS FLORIDA WILL SOON BE FEELING THE REMNANTS OF TROPICAL STORM DOLLY IS THIS SAW THE BEGINNING OF MORE STORM ACTIVITY IN THE ATLANTIC AND THE GULF. >> I WOULDN'T NECESSARILY SAY, YOU KNOW, IT'S THE START OF MORE STORM ACTIVITY. WE'RE ALREADY FEELING THE IMPACTS OF THE THE REMNANTS, THE REMNANT ENERGY FROM DOLLY. AND THAT HAS REALLY TRIGGERED ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY ACROSS THE STATE OF FLORIDA. WE'LL BE WATCHING. THE TROPICS, OF COURSE, AS WE GET INTO THE COMING WEEKS. BUT FOR NOW, REALLY ONCE AT WAR DISSIPATES BE HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF A LULL IN IN THE TROPICS. IN TERMS OF THAT IN TERMS OF STORM DEVELOPMENT. >> AND THAT'S GOOD NEWS FOR SURE FOR US. THIS TIME OF YEAR. THIS IS NORMALLY THE TIME OF YEAR WHEN FLORIDIANS ARE ON HIGH HURRICANE ALERT. BUT ARE THERE ANY PATTERNS OF SYSTEMS THAT YOU ARE CURRENTLY KEEPING AN EYE ON >> SO, YEAH, I MEAN, AS YOU MENTIONED, WE ARE ENTERING THE PEAK OF HURRICANE SEASON. WE ONLY JUST STARTED SEPTEMBER. WE HAVE 3 FULL MONTHS LEFT AND OF COURSE, THE CLIMATOLOGICAL PEAK OF HURRICANE SEASON IN THE ATLANTIC BASIN IS AROUND SEPTEMBER 10, SEPTEMBER. 11TH, GIVE OR TAKE A FEW DAYS NOW. EL NINO IS VERY STRONG. THAT HAS BEEN LIKE THE BIG TOPIC SO FAR THIS SEASON. AND THAT HAS HELPED TO PUT A LID ON TROPICAL DEVELOPMENT. WE DO HAVE A PLUME OF SAHARAN DUST OFF THE COAST OF AFRICA RIGHT NOW. IT'S OVER THE NEXT 7 DAYS OR SO. I DON'T EXPECT ANY DEVELOPMENT, BUT ONCE WE START LOOKING AT THE MIDTERM, WE COULD HAVE A FEW WAVES OBJECT OFF THE AFRICAN COAST AND WE'LL BE WATCHING THE MAIN DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL DEVELOPMENT. WAY TOO SOON TO TELL IF THAT LABEL EVEN DEVELOP INTO ANYTHING. BUT I SAY ALL THIS TO SAY THAT, YOU KNOW, WE ARE APPROACHING THE PEAK OF SEASON AND OF COURSE, WE'RE GOING TO BE MONITORING THINGS THROUGH NOVEMBER, 30TH AND BEYOND. >> CAN YOU TELL US HOW AL NINO IS IMPACTING OUR FORECAST? >> SO ELLIE NEW IS A TELE CONNECTION IN THE PACIFIC, BUT IT ACTUALLY TRANSLATES OVER INTO THE ATLANTIC. AND WHAT IT DOES IS IT INCREASES VERTICAL WIND SHEAR. SO THE CHANGE IN SPEED WITH HEIGHT IN THE ATMOSPHERE AND WIND SHEAR IS NOT GOOD. IF YOU WANT TO A HURRICANE TO DEVELOP, YOU NEED LOW WIND SHEAR. SO THIS ELEVATED WIND SHEAR HELP TO SCRAMBLE OUR THUNDERSTORMS. IT HELPS TO PREVENT IT. TROPICAL SYSTEMS FROM ORGANIZING. SO THAT'S BEEN THE MAIN FACTOR THAT ONLY KNOW HAS BEEN PRODUCING IN THE ATLANTIC. IT'S HELPED TO PREVENT THOSE STORMS FROM ORGANIZING. I WILL NOTE THAT THAT ELEVATED WIND SHEAR IS REALLY BEING SEEN IN THE LOWER LATITUDES OF THE TROPICAL ATLANTIC, INCLUDING THE CARIBBEAN. BUT OVER THE GULF. AND OUR WIND SHEAR ISN'T BEING IMPACTED TOO MUCH. THAT'S ACTUALLY WHY WE SAW IT WERE DEVELOPED VERY QUICKLY BECAUSE WE HAD LOW WIND SHEAR IN THE GULF AND IT CAN QUICKLY SPIN UP AND IN THANKFULLY IT'S MAKING LANDFALL AND IT'S NOT INTENSIFY ANY FURTHER. >> WILL ANY OF THE RAIN THAT WE'VE BEEN RECEIVING, ESPECIALLY IN SOUTHWEST FLORIDA, BE ENOUGH TO HELP COMBAT THE DROUGHT THAT MOST OF FLORIDA HAS FOUND ITSELF IN. >> YEAH, WE'RE STILL STUCK IN DROUGHT CONDITIONS ACROSS MUCH OF THE STATE. THERE'S PARTS OF THE PANHANDLE THAT HAVE FINALLY COME OUT OF IT. BUT SIR, IT HAS BEEN QUITE THE DRY SUMMER, ACTUALLY FOR FOR A LOT OF US EVER RUNNING ANYWHERE BETWEEN 5 AND 15 INCHES BELOW WHERE WE SHOULD BE FOR THE SUMMERTIME SEASON. NOW, CORE SUMMERTIME FOR METEOROLOGST METEOROLOGICAL RECORDS CONCLUDED ON THE THE NIGHTTIME OF OF AUGUST 30TH 31030TH. WE ARE NOW IN METEOROLOGICAL AUTUMN BUT WERE RUNNING ANYWHERE FROM 5 TO 15 INCHES BELOW WHERE WE SHOULD BE FOR THE SUMMERTIME SEASON IN SOUTHWEST FLORIDA OVER THE NEXT 7 DAYS OR SO. WE COULD SEE POCKETS OF SEVERAL INCHES OF RAINFALL FROM THUNDERSTORMS THAT ARE BEING TRIGGERED BY THIS REMNANT ENERGY FROM DOLLY. BUT IT'S GOING TO TAKE A LOT MANY STORMS. MANY DAYS OF THUNDER STORMS TO REALLY HELPED TO PUT IT AND SUBSTANTIAL DENT IN THOSE RAINFALL DEFICITS. GOOD NEWS IS EVEN THOUGH THE STORMS ARE QUITE ANNOYING, TYPICALLY ONLY KNOW WINTER'S ARE QUITE RAINY FOR THE STATE OF FLORIDA. SO EVEN IF WE DON'T GET WHAT WE NEED DURING THE REMAINDER OF RAINY SEASON, WE'LL LIKELY SEE A GOOD AMOUNT OF RAINFALL OVER THE WINTER TIME MONTHS. >> AND NOW THAT WE ARE INTO SEPTEMBER, HOW HAS THE HURRICANE OUTLOOK CHANGED AND WHAT WE CALL OUR PEAK SEASON COMPARED TO WHAT WE WERE LOOKING AT EARLIER THIS YEAR. >> SO THE FORECAST EVEN EARLY ON THIS YEAR ARE CALLING FOR A BELOW AVERAGE SEASON. I THINK IT WITH FIRST IT STARTED OUT NEAR AVERAGE IN THEM OR WERE SUBSTANTIALLY IN AND BELOW AVERAGE FORECAST. SO WE'RE RIGHT ON TRACK. I BELIEVE THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER ON THE LOW END OF THE RANGE HAS 7 STORM, 7 NAMED STORMS AND THEIR FORECAST. WE'VE ALREADY HAD 4 OF THEM. SO, YOU KNOW, OVER THE NEXT 3 MONTHS, ALL WE NEED IS IS 3 NAMED STORMS TO MEET THAT LOW RANGE FORECAST FROM THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER. WE'LL SEE WHAT HAPPENS ON THE NEW IS VERY STRONG. BUT AGAIN, WE'VE GOT THOSE PEAK MONTHS OF HURRICANE SEASON COMING UP, INCLUDING SEPTEMBER. SO WE'VE GOT TO KEEP AN EYE ON THAT. SOMETHING ELSE THAT THAT I WANT TO URGE FLORIDIANS IS KEEP IN MIND JUST OVER THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS ARE MOST IMPACTFUL STORMS. HELENE AND MILTON NICOLE ALL HAPPENED DURING SEPTEMBER OR LATER. SO THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO BE LIKE, WELL, IT'S BEEN KIND OF QUIET SO FAR SO WE CAN KIND OF LET OUR GUARD DOWN. THAT'S NOT THE SITUATION. WE'VE GOT TO STAY VIGILANT THROUGH THE END OF HURRICANE SEASON. AND THEN, YOU KNOW, BEYOND IN INTO THE WINTER TIME MONTHS FOR POTENTIAL UNSETTLED WEATHER DURING THE WINTER. >> GREAT REMINDERS. THANK YOU SO MUCH. MEGAN BOROSKI, SENIOR METEOROLOGIST WITH F PRINT. THANK YOU FOR JOINING US.