Peak Hurricane Season Is About to Begin
A real-time look at the tropics on August 18, 2023.
Image: NOAA
The 2023 hurricane season is off to a fast start. There have been four named storms since June 1 (and did you know there was actually an unnamed storm in January?)
The meat of the season is about to begin, so be sure you know your elevation and prepare for what you'll do with your cars, important documents, like insurance and medical information, and where you'll go if you get the evacuation notice.
Remember, it's too late to prepare when a storm is imminent. Evacuation routes, especially between barrier islands and mainland Sarasota, are subject to early closure due to rising tides and road surfaces that can be only two feet or so above mean high tide on a normal day. Just because your street looks OK doesn't mean you can get off a barrier island. Hurricane Ian drowned about 80 people who didn't know their elevation and didn't evacuate.
The Gulf of Mexico reached hot tub-level temperatures in late July.
Image: NOAA
Globally, sea temperatures are at record levels, too. By now, you have likely heard about sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico reaching 101.1 degrees Fahrenheit. Data shows that the sea surface temperatures Station MFNBF1, the buoy in Manatee Bay between the Everglades and Key Largo in the Florida Keys, hit hot tub levels, exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit two days in a row on July 23 and 24. Meteorologists say it could be the hottest seawater ever measured in the world. The National Weather Service points out that there is some uncertainty with the reading, but if it's verified, it would be a world record.
Additionally, dust from the Sahara Desert is slowly subsiding and the tropics are waking up. When the Saharan dust fully clears, we are in for a wild ride, as storms will spin up, fed by the record warm seas. A firecracker may be about to be lit as we move into peak hurricane season, which for Southwest Florida is September and October.
Tropical cyclones and disturbances in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico as of Aug. 18, 2023.
Image: NOAA
Right now, there are several suspicious areas in the Atlantic: one off the coast of West Africa, with another expected to form in the Western Caribbean or Gulf of Mexico in the next week or so. Please stay vigilant.
The world is currently showing us what a rapidly changing climate looks like. Yes, we have always had hurricanes, droughts, fires, heat waves, floods and other big weather events. However, the frequency and intensity of these events are increasing because our Earth and its atmospheric system have to balance the excess heat caused by climate heating. These weather events are distribution mechanisms to try to create that balance.
Bob Bunting is a scientist, entrepreneur and educator and the CEO of the nation’s first Climate Adaptation Center (CAC), headquartered in Sarasota. The Climate Adaptation Center is an expert resource to inform government, academe and the private sector so they can create the necessary adaptation strategies and actions to protect the Florida way of life and foster the climate economy as well as larger global solutions evolve to solve the climate problem. For more information, visit theclimateadaptationcenter.org.
