RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) – This morning, Humberto became the first hurricane of the 2013 season, barely missing the record for the latest first hurricane in a season (since the satellite era began in the 1960s) by hours. It takes rank with five other known years where it took until September for our first hurricane of the tropical season to form.
In the satellite record, only Hurricane Gustav in 2002 is known to have formed later in the season than Humberto. Gustav reached hurricane strength on September 11, 2002 three hours later than Humberto on today’s date. It’s really splitting hairs, but this shows how rare it is for the season’s first hurricane to not form until the middle of the season. The new “latest first hurricane” list stands as thus (information from the National Weather Service Kansas City):
Latest first Atlantic hurricanes known since 1950
1. Gustav, 9/11/2002 (8am ET formation)
2. Humberto, 9/11/2013 (5am ET formation)
3. Diana, 9/10/1984
4. Erin, 9/8/2001
Hurricane Humberto’s hurricane-force winds extend up to 25 miles away from its center, with tropical storm-force winds up to 115 miles away from its center.
Humberto will not threaten any major landmasses as it moves away from the Cape Verde Islands west of Africa. Tracking north, it will encounter cooler ocean waters and more wind shear, which will both cause Humberto to weaken. The cyclone will then hook west into the Central Atlantic, still weakening because of westerly wind shear and dry air wrapping into the system. Humberto will not pose any threat to land over the next week.
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Meteorologist Carrie Rose
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