The National Hurricane Center said Monday afternoon that the first tropical wave of the 2022 hurricane season is showing signs of weakening.
The wave, which appeared 23 days before the official start of hurricane season, moved off the coast of Africa and into the Atlantic Ocean.
“Convection has weakened steadily over the last 24 hours,” hurricane centre forecasters stated in their tropical update Monday afternoon. The latest satellite imagery shows scattered moderate convection east of the wave from the equator to 11N between the coast of Africa and the wave axis”.
About 23 mph is the speed of the early tropical wave.
“Tropical wave guidance shows it moving westward over the next 24 to 48 hours, passing south of the Cabo Verde Islands,” the NHC said.
In recent years, Mother Nature hasn’t been paying attention to the calendar when it comes to hurricane season, which starts on June 1.
The first named storm of the 2022 season will be called Alex.
The 2022 hurricane season is expected to be a busy one, according to the meteorological team at Colorado State University. Its forecast released in April called for an above-average year with 19 named storms this season — five more than what the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration considers average, based on data collected from 1991 to 2020.
The Colorado State prediction also calls for four major hurricanes, which are defined as being at least Category 3 with maximum sustained winds greater than 110 mph. The average season has about three, according to NOAA.
