Oak Hill, WV (WOAY-TV): The Atlantic Hurricane Season is underway as of this morning and already we could have our second named storm of the season.
Chief Meteorologist Chad Merrill has the latest:
Chief Meteorologist Chad Merrill’s Latest 7-Day Forecast for southern West Virginia:
Recall we told you a few weeks ago the Hurricane Center declared a low pressure off the Northeast coast in January during a post-analysis process as the first subtropical storm of the year. While the Memorial weekend storm certainly had an eye, the hurricane center deemed it a cold core system and did not name it despite the wind and rain in the Carolinas and flooding locally in Bluefield.
Late this week, low pressure in the Gulf of Mexico is moving over warm water and totally unattached to any front and has become a tropical depression. It has a small window early Friday to become Tropical Storm Arlene.
It won’t impact southern West Virginia though. A series of fronts will push the jet stream well to our south and eventually the Gulf of Mexico storm, whether named or not, after bringing Florida rain, will push even farther south into the Gulf of Mexico thanks to the eastern trough.
We’re ahead of schedule if this becomes Arlene. On average, the first named storm doesn’t develop until June 20.
Of course stay with your StormWatch 4 Weather Team as we track the tropics this summer and let you know if any systems will impact southern West Virginia.
