Hurricane-potential storm Erin forms, poised to become the first hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean this year.
In the eastern Atlantic Ocean, Tropical Storm Erin formed on Monday, causing destruction in Cabo Verde, but posing no immediate threat to the United States.
As of Tuesday morning, the center of Erin was located about 1,890 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands in the West Indies. The storm was moving toward the west, and there's uncertainty about where it goes after this week.
Maximum sustained winds of Tropical Storm Erin were 45 mph, and the storm was expected to strengthen later in the week and could become the Atlantic's first hurricane of the season. A tropical cyclone becomes a tropical storm when its maximum sustained wind speeds reach at least 39 mph. Hurricanes are more powerful with sustained winds of at least 74 mph.
The Atlantic hurricane season started just over two months ago, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicted an above-normal season for the Atlantic basin this year. However, the search results focused on the 2025 season, and the NOAA did not issue a forecast for the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season in these results.
Meanwhile, in other parts of the world, the Pacific Ocean has already seen six hurricanes this year. Tropical Storm Chantal made landfall on the Carolina coast in early July, causing deadly flooding.
Alex Sundby, a senior editor at ourNews.com who covers breaking news, crime, severe weather, multistate lottery jackpots, and the July Fourth hot dog eating contest, reports that classes in Broward County began on Monday, and students in neighboring Miami-Dade County are set to go back to school later in the week.
Atlantic hurricanes are named alphabetically from lists that rotate every six years. This year's list includes names like Erin, Fred, Grace, Henri, and Ida.
Erielle Delzer and Nikki Nolan contributed to this report.
[1] NOAA Prediction for 2025 Atlantic Hurricane Season [2] NOAA Predicts Above-Normal 2025 Atlantic Hurricane Season [3] NOAA Predicts Above-Normal 2025 Atlantic Hurricane Season
[4] Breaking news: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued a prediction for the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season, stating it will be above-normal. [5] Despite the prediction, the search results focused on the 2025 season, and the NOAA did not issue a forecast for the current year's season in these results. [6] In other weather news, Tropical Storm Erin in the eastern Atlantic Ocean is expected to strengthen and could become the Atlantic's first hurricane of the season. [7] Meanwhile, American football enthusiasts might be interested to know that the NFL preseason games are set to commence this week, while the NCAA football season kicks off on August 28, with weather forecasting to play a crucial role in determining outcome on the field, much like it does in environmental-science and climate-change studies.
