A New World Record

Tropical Storm Eta has been quite erratic, but those of us in the Northeast can breathe easy, as it is expected to weaken in the eastern Gulf of Mexico after having affected southern Florida as it moves north likely dissipating by the weekend.

But - the hurricane season is still not winding down.  A subtropical cyclone named Theta formed in the eastern Atlantic Ocean.  This marks the twenty-ninth Atlantic cyclone, setting an all new record for the most storms in the an Atlantic hurricane second ever.  Ever!

Did I happen to mention that a thirtieth storm is likely to form in the Caribbean this week?

The good news for the U.S. is that this thirtieth storm likely won't hit the lower forty-eight.  The bad news is that the same part of Central America affected by Eta will likely have have to deal with this as-yet unformed storm - to be called Iota.

Only eight cyclones formed in 2014, the last time the current batch of names was used, and now we could be getting quadruple that.  By the time this season is over, we may end up having more tropical systems this year than Baskin-Robbins has ice cream flavors.

This is all preferable to the pandemic, though.  At least storms come and go. COVID-19 will likely always be with us. 😞