Weather Alert
Hurricane season is nearing the start of its peak period all while the Trump administration is considering cuts to climate change research
The Atlantic hurricane season sprawls across half the year, from June through November, but the peak period for tropical storms is approaching—mid-August through mid-October.
On cue, the latest reports from the National Hurricane Center show three disturbances we need to keep our eyes on.
Tropical Storm Dexter is the fourth named disturbance of the season so far, but, fortunately, it’s moving out into the Atlantic and should pose no threat to the American mainland.
Next up in the named-storms lineup will be Erin, Fernand, Gabrielle, Huberto, Imelda, Jerry and all the way through to Wendy if the number of tropical storms and hurricane reaches 21. FYI, there are no storms beginning with the letters Q, U, X, Y and Z.
As you will note in the map above, there are two more areas meteorologists are watching right now. One off the northeastern coast of Florida has a good chance of developing into a tropical depression this week bringing heavy rain and thunderstorms.
Off the coast of Africa and heading in a northwesterly direction another disturbance is being given a 50 percent chance of developing over the next week.
All this while the Trump administration is considering steep cuts to the budgets of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) including eliminating “all funding for climate, weather and ocean Laboratories and Cooperative Institutes,” according to a report from Axios.
U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, the ranking Democrat on the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, said of the proposed cuts:
I will do everything I can to stand in the way of this idiotic plan. The White House seems to think that our science capabilities operate in vacuums from one another. That is not the case. It's a holistic system, and each piece of the agency is critical to strengthening the accuracy of weather forecasting and data, and then providing that data to the people who need it.
The National Weather Service has already lost nearly 600 staff members due to Elon Musk’s DOGE chainsawing, according to the Center for American Progress.
As Yale Climate Connections notes:
We’re pushing our luck if we think the cuts to NOAA, which oversees the weather service, won’t cause a breakdown in our ability to get people out of harm’s way in the future. In particular, the loss this year of many of the weather service’s most experienced leaders – people with decades of experience in the particular weather vulnerabilities in local areas – poses a significant danger to the mission of protecting people and property.
All while hurricane season churns toward its peak. What could go wrong?
Parting Shot
J.C. Bruce is the editor of Tropic Press, an award winning journalist and columnist, and author. He holds dual citizenship in the United States of America and his native Florida.
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