Current hurricane season expected to be intense

HAVANA, Cuba, Nov 8 (ACN) The current hurricane season showed a very active behavior, to the point that 19 tropical storms were registered up until last October alone, according to specialists from the Climate Monitoring Center (CVC).

Seven of them became hurricanes—Elsa, Grace, Henri, Ida, Larry, Nicholas and Sam—including four major ones (Grace, Ida, Larry and Sam). Two subtropical storms were also registered, and one of them became the 20th totally tropical storm early in November.

In its most recent assessment, CVC pointed out that these events have been particularly intense in the tropical Atlantic Ocean, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, and especially in the case of Cuba, directly hit by Hurricane Ida and tropical storms Fred and Elsa (the latter evolved into a hurricane after crossing the Island).

In October, subtropical storm Wanda developed in the Atlantic Ocean and, days later, grew into a tropical storm. Moreover, Hurricane Sam and tropical storm Victor, born in September, kept active they dissipated in the first days of October.

The Institute of Meteorology, one of the few in the Latin American region where forecasts are made since the 1960s, estimates that October is the most dangerous month of the hurricane season for Cuba, an assertion based on historical records of that period, which extends from June 1 to November 30 in the tropical Atlantic Ocean, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.