No named storms on the map right now, but multiple tropical systems causing problems

There haven't been any named tropical storms or hurricanes in the Atlantic since mid-August, but several weaker systems are causing issues this week.

Transcript

00:00We want to take a look at what's going on, though, with the overall recent quiet spell.

00:05It's been very unusual.

00:07The last storm to form was Ernesto back on the 12th of August.

00:10So we went from August 13th into early September with no new named storms.

00:15It's the first time we've gone through this particular stretch of the calendar

00:18without a new storm forming since 1968.

00:21So what's up? There has been a slower transition to La Nina.

00:24La Nina, cooler water over the Pacific near the equator,

00:28that's typically associated with less wind shear in the Atlantic, which leads to more storms.

00:33But if you're slower to transition to La Nina,

00:36then overall the transition to less wind shear is slower as well,

00:40and therefore we've had more wind shear for a longer period of time.

00:43That's helped some of this in check.

00:44A big part of the story has been Saharan dust and dry air.

00:47And some of these tropical waves are entering the East Atlantic

00:50from a different point near the African coastline,

00:54coming in a little farther north,

00:56which again just doesn't quite fit the mold of your typical healthy tropical wave

01:01that would lead to organization here.

01:04So things have been really eerily quiet with no active storms.

01:08There is still some wind shear in parts of the Caribbean and the Gulf at this point,

01:12and that's going to keep us from any serious trouble this weekend.

01:15We do have this tropical rainstorm leading to flooding, though,

01:18even though it's disorganized, near the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.

01:23We're watching another tropical wave that we're now calling a tropical rainstorm northwest of Bermuda.

01:28That's going to run into the Canadian Maritimes.

01:30Among all these blobs here that we're highlighting,

01:33the one east of Belize is probably the greatest threat for organization here

01:39into early next week over the southwestern Gulf of Mexico.

01:42We'll keep an eye on that one.

01:43We'll also keep an eye on a few of these tropical waves over the East Central Atlantic.

01:47But the noise offshore, that disturbance that we're calling a tropical rainstorm near Bermuda,

01:52this is leading to big waves, rip current dangers up and down the east coast,

01:55and this is going to slam into Nova Scotia this weekend,

01:59bringing wind of 40 to 60 miles per hour for some,

02:02and also 2 to 4 inches of rain in places like Halifax, Nova Scotia as well.