Two tropical systems form in Atlantic and Pacific oceans

Tuesday, July 23, 2013, 1:38 PM -

With being fully into hurricane season, there is tropical storm activity developing in both the Atlantic, and Pacific oceans. For the west coast, some heavy rain may be exactly what provinces bordering the Pacific Ocean really need. The province of British Columbia is experiencing one of its driest Julys ever, and is reporting potential dangers for forest fires due to lack of rain.

Just south of Mexico, a tropical system moves west northwest away from Central America and deeper into the Pacific Ocean. There is only a 30 per cent chance for this to develop into a tropical cyclone, as it it will meet colder water temperatures and decline in strength. Although the system is moving away from land, hopefully it can bring enough precipitation to British Columbia in order to reduce the amount of forest fires this summer. 

In early June, the Maritime provinces experienced quite the opposite. Tropical storm Andrea was powerful enough to flood some roads, and even leave some areas without power. Unlike storm Andrea, there should be less direct affect to the Maritime provinces with a developing system in the Atlantic. 

Sitting off the southeast coast of the Cape De Verde Islands, a tropical systems is travelling west northwest through the Atlantic. On Monday, this wave came off of the coast of Africa. According to the US National Hurricane Center, there is only a 40 per cent chance of this storm developing into a tropical cyclone formation within 48 hours. 

Although this system began over warmer temperatures, the direction it is moving will involve a path with cooler waters, consequently weakening the system as it travels. Unlike the path taken by tropical storm Andrea earlier this summer, this system is moving towards the Gulf of Mexico. This should be a relief to those on the east coast, such as New Brunswick’s Grand Manan island that saw over 90mm of rain.