The great tropical storm ‘Danielle’, an unusual phenomenon that has generated great expectation for his training in strangely high latitudes in the Atlantic and because one of his hypothetical itineraries would affect Spain, has reached the hurricane categorythe US National Hurricane Center (NHC) has reported.
‘Danielle’, which on Friday became the first hurricane of the year 2022 in the Atlantic basin, recovered the lost strength on Saturday and now its maximum sustained winds reach 75 miles per hour (120 km/h), with stronger gusts.
Further strengthening is still expected.
Here we can appreciate the anomalous hurricane #Danielle and its circulation so closed.
We have always learned that a cyclone in the northern hemisphere rotates counterclockwise, but here we see that some of its cloud cover rotates counterclockwise.
What is it due to?? pic.twitter.com/OIsEjTn5Po
– JJ González Alemán (@glezjuanje) September 4, 2022
The hurricane is moving north at a very slow speed and will drift towards the northeast to continue in that direction for the next few days.
‘Danielle’ does not affect land, as it is in the middle of the ocean 900 miles (1,590 km) west of the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. The State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) lowered this weekend the chances that the hurricane reaches the Galician coasts on its way across the Atlantic: “The chances of it affecting Spain are very low, less than 10%, although it could, yes, cause bad state of the sea in our environment & rdquor ;, as reported by the Aemet.
There are meteorologists who affirm that, although ‘Danielle’ ends up degrading to a storm, that does not mean that it does not pose risks for the territory it affects. This is the case of the Aemet expert, Juan Jesús González Alemán:
It is usually thought that when a tropical cyclone becomes an extratropical cyclone (storm) it loses its danger.
But no, many can even have a greater impact by transforming.
Although with low probability, this scenario is still possible according to several models. pic.twitter.com/2LJaTOGrca
– JJ González Alemán (@glezjuanje) September 4, 2022
The ‘Earl’ punishes the Caribbean
On the contrary, another cyclone, the ‘Earl‘, formed this Saturday and currently about 75 miles (125 km) from St. Thomas, one of the US Virgin Islands, is felt in that area of the Caribbean.
Earl is moving west-northwestward near 8 mph (13 km/h) and this motion is expected to continue.
Sunday night has initiated a decrease in forward speed and a gradual turn to the northwest and then north that will continue through Tuesday.
On the forecast track, the center of Earl is expected to pass north of the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico and then move away from the islands.
Maximum sustained winds are near 50 mph (85 km/h) with higher gusts. Slow strengthening is expected over the next few days.
Tropical storm force winds extend up to 105 miles (165 km) from the center.
Related news
Earl is going to produce rain in the Leeward Islands, the US and British Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico on Sunday.
There is a risk of flash flooding in cities, river flooding, and landslides in areas of steep terrain, especially in central Puerto Rico.