This year’s Atlantic hurricane season has been so active, forecasters are almost out of names so now they will be moving on to the Greek alphabet.
A newly formed tropical depression could make landfall as a hurricane in the northern Gulf Coast this week, forecasters warned Sunday, while Tropical Storm Gamma killed at least six people after coming ashore in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula.
The National Hurricane Center upgraded Invest 92L to Potential Tropical Cyclone 26 and later to Tropical Depression 26 on Sunday, forecasting that the disturbance would develop into a tropical storm on Monday near the Cayman Islands and become a hurricane near Cuba on Tuesday.
“Strengthening is expected during the next few days,” the Hurricane Center said, warning that the tropical depression could develop into a Category 2 hurricane with 100 mph winds by Friday.
As of 2 a.m. EDT Monday, the tropical depression was about 280 miles southeast of Grand Cayman. It was traveling west-northwest at 9 mph with maximum sustained winds of 35 mph, according to the Hurricane Center.
The tropical depression, which would be named Delta, could become the 25th named storm in the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season — about double the average of a usual season. The season runs from June 1 through Nov. 30.
Two major hurricanes have formed this season: Laura and Teddy reached Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale.
Laura caused widespread damage in Louisiana and southeastern Texas when it roared ashore as a Category 4 storm. Teddy never made landfall in the U.S. but brushed past Maine into Canada after it lashed Bermuda.
Tropical Storm Gamma headed toward Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on Saturday with maximum sustained winds of nearly 70 mph, according to the Hurricane Center.
The four deaths in the state of Chiapas included two children who were crushed by a landslide in their home, according to Mexico’s civil defense agency. The other two deaths were in Tabasco state, where one person was dragged away by the water and another drowned..
