Satellites track 5 storms as Atlantic hurricane season heats up

September 23, 2022

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The Atlantic hurricane season of 2022 has picked up momentum.

After a gradual begin, Hurricane Fiona has strengthened right into a Class 4 storm after knocking out power grids across Puerto Rico earlier this week. Meteorologists are additionally monitoring Tropical Storm Gaston and three different areas of low air strain that may turn into cyclones within the subsequent few days.

All 5 of those areas of meteorological concern are seen in a single picture captured Thursday (Sept. 22) by the GOES 16 meteorological satellite from its vantage level 22,000 miles (36,000 kilometers) above Earth.

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Hurricane Fiona, the primary main hurricane of the 2022 Atlantic season, shaped west of Barbados and Martinique in mid-September and shortly picked up power because it tracked westward above the nice and cozy Caribbean waters. Fiona reached hurricane standing on Sunday (Sept. 19), when it battered Puerto Rico. It then continued to strengthen because it moved over the Dominican Republic, discharging torrential rains and unleashing highly effective winds.

An evening-time picture shared on Twitter (opens in new tab) by the U.S. Nationwide Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Thursday, and brought earlier that day by the NOAA 20 satellite, revealed Puerto Rico nonetheless largely in darkness three days after Fiona’s passage, hinting on the scale of the facility grid injury.

Puerto Rico submerged in darkness after Hurricane Fiona knocked out energy grids throughout the island. (Picture credit score: NOAA/NASA)

Fiona reached the depth of a Class 4 hurricane on Thursday (Sept. 22) with sustained wind speeds of 130 mph (215 kph) and most wind gusts of 160 mph (259 kph) in line with Accuweather. The storm is presently shifting northward towards Bermuda, and is anticipated to skirt the islands afterward Thursday evening or early Friday morning.

Fiona will then proceed its northbound journey at a secure distance from the U.S. East Coast, however will make landfall in japanese Canada this weekend as a Class 2 hurricane with sustained wind speeds of 100 mph (157 kph) and most wind gusts of 121 mph (195 kph).

Hurricane Fiona is the first major tropical storm of the 2022 Atlantic season.

Hurricane Fiona is the primary main tropical storm of the 2022 Atlantic season. (Picture credit score: Copernicus)

The Atlantic hurricane season of 2022 had an unusually gradual begin. It had no named tropical storms forming above the ocean’s waters throughout the whole month of August for the primary time in 25 years. However exercise picked up firstly of September. Along with Fiona, tropical storm Gaston is presently elevating waves within the northern elements of central Atlantic. The storm doesn’t pose any risk to inhabited territories within the foreseeable future.

Alternatively, an space of low air strain simply north of the coast of Venezuela has a 70% likelihood of strengthening right into a cyclone within the subsequent 48 hours, in line with NOAA (opens in new tab). This cloud system is shifting within the western/northwestern course towards the central Caribbean and probably the Gulf of Mexico. Meteorologists are additionally monitoring two different, weaker areas of low air strain: One off the east coast of central Africa and one other within the central tropical Atlantic Ocean.

Observe Tereza Pultarova on Twitter @TerezaPultarova (opens in new tab). Observe us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) and on Facebook (opens in new tab).

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