The tropics are becoming extremely active after a slow start to the season, with forecasters monitoring a total of five systems.
of the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season, reaching Category 4 intensity as it slowly moved away from islands it battered, but forecasters are now tracking several more systems that could pose additional threats in the coming days.NOAAFiona's maximum sustained winds hit 130 mph early Wednesday, with additional strengthening expected through Wednesday night., the Dominican Republic and the Turks and Caicos islands over the past few days, but it is expected to remain out to sea through Friday.
Fiona is forecast to transition to an extratropical cyclone by Saturday but could bring hurricane-force winds to Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and other Canadian maritime areas as it pushes through the region this weekend. Another named storm—Tropical Storm Gaston—formed Tuesday over the north central Atlantic, but the system is expected to meander over the area during the next few days with little strengthening, posing no imminent threat to land.
Forecasters are also tracking three disturbances that could organize into tropical storms over the coming days—one just east of the Windward Islands, one over the east central Atlantic and another in western Africa. The Windward Islands system has a 90% chance of developing as it moves into the Caribbean Sea, while the African system has a 50% chance of organizing over the next five days as it skirts the west African coast and the central Atlantic disturbance has a 20% chance of forming as it stays over open waters, according to the National Hurricane Center.Swells from Hurricane Fiona are expected to produce"life-threatening surf and rip current conditions" during the next day or two.