If you are a weather hobbyist living in Canada, the United States, Mexico, or the nations encircling the Gulf and across the Caribbean, you have a lot of interesting weather events to follow each year during the Atlantic hurricane season.
Many originate in the Atlantic Basin.
You’ve probably noticed a distinguishing moment as the news follows weather systems — the announcement of a name connected with a weather system.
The first name given always includes the words “Tropical Storm.”
In 2024, for example, the first name to hit the headlines was Tropical Storm Alberto.
Hurricane Helene preparing to make landfall in the United States on September 26, 2024.
So, What Is a Tropical Storm?
In a nutshell, a tropical storm is a type of tropical cyclone, a system of rotating winds over tropical oceans.
Phase 1: Tropical Depression
Early on, as a tropical depression, the system has sustained wind speeds of less than 39 mph.
Tropical depressions are not given names but are tracked to determine if they are growing into tropical storms or hurricanes.
Phase 3: Hurricane
If that speed reaches 74 mph, the named tropical storm becomes a hurricane with the same name.
If the word tropical seems a little repetitious, it’s just referring to the warm temperature of the events being described.
Warm water provides energy to speed up warm air. Tropical or subtropical waters provide varying levels of energy. Depending on the location in the ocean, when enough energy enters a weather system you end up with a tropical storm or a subtropical storm.
Tropical systems are more common. Sometimes that storm grows into a hurricane.
Preparing For a Tropical Storm
If you live in an area where a tropical storm watch is issued, you should begin taking steps to prepare for a major weather event with strong winds.
If the watch becomes an official tropical storm warning, be sure to follow every available tropical storm update.
Although tropical storm force winds don’t typically create the level of wind damage associated with hurricane force winds, the heavy rain within the storm can cause local flooding and even landslides.
Both hurricane and tropical storm conditions should be taken very seriously. Often, local conditions can deteriorate in less than 24 hours. It’s wiser to vacate an area within 36 hours of a projected landfall.
The Power of Preparedness
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Topics Include:
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— Evacuation Plans
— Care for Pets
— Weather Monitoring
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Additional Tips
- • Online sites like the National Weather Service or National Hurricane Center (NHC) are a great resource for tropical cyclone news.
- • Should a tropical storm develop into a hurricane, you will want to take whatever precautions are recommended by emergency agencies that update your area with a hurricane watch or hurricane warning.
- • A storm surge or storm tide that might be just a couple of feet above normal levels in a tropical storm can be much higher in a hurricane and bring coastal flooding.
But, whether your community is the potential target of a tropical storm or hurricane, you will be wise to prepare early and remain alert.
Hurricane Milton approaching Florida on October 9, 2024.
Tropical Storm Progression
With so many weather systems impacting Florida, a very common web search is “tropical storm Florida.”
But all of the states along the U.S. Gulf Coast can look back on historic storms.
In fact, the deadliest hurricane to ever hit the U.S. was the 1900 Galveston, Texas, hurricane that killed more than 6,000 people.
Running the hurricane clock backwards to the named tropical storm, what are the first stages of development for that weather system? As mentioned earlier, a tropical depression is a stage of a tropical cyclone in which organized cyclical winds are less than 39 mph in strength.
But before those winds organize, the very beginnings of that weather system are called a tropical disturbance. This is an area of disorganized thunderstorms with the potential to develop further.
So, we see a few basic steps on the potential journey to a named hurricane — tropical disturbance, tropical depression, tropical storm, hurricane. All of these steps are part of the tropical development process by which a tropical cyclone forms and strengthens over warm tropical waters.
Even if a tropical storm never reaches hurricane status, it can pose a significant threat to lives and property. Remember, if you live in a region vulnerable to such storms, take any storm watch or warning seriously.
Should your area be impacted by such a storm, a number of government agencies and nonprofit groups will likely be in the area responding to the needs of storm survivors.
As just one example, Convoy of Hope is a faith-based nonprofit that regularly sends team members and resources into impacted communities following a hurricane or tropical storm.
Convoy of Hope & Hurricanes
Convoy responded to its first disaster in 1998 when flooding in Del Rio, Texas, followed that year’s Tropical Storm Charley.
Hurricane response continues to be an annual priority for Convoy.
In the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, Hurricane Beryl broke two records — becoming the earliest Category 4 storm on June 30 and the earliest Category 5 on July 1.
Convoy quickly began meeting the needs of communities in Beryl’s path. Beryl’s first effects were felt in the Caribbean, where Convoy served more than 43,000 meals and distributed family food kits, hygiene kits, water filters, solar lamps, and generators.
Convoy’s 2024 response to Hurricane Helene.
To view Convoy’s response to Hurricane Ian, watch the video above.
On September 26, Category 4 Hurricane Helene became the strongest recorded hurricane to strike Florida’s Big Bend region.
It was the deadliest hurricane since 2005’s Katrina, with more than 230 fatalities.
By November, Convoy had distributed more than 4 million pounds of resources in 85 communities across Florida and five other impacted states.
Hurricane Milton was the final major storm of the 2024 season and hit Florida with heavy rain and flooding even as the state continued to recover from Helene.
Convoy continued its regional response to include 27 communities recovering from Milton. Nearly 1 million pounds of resources were distributed.
Convoy of Hope Disaster Services responds to natural disasters around the world, offering help and hope to people facing some of the most challenging circumstances in their lives.
Convoy of Hope is a nonprofit, faith-based organization with a driving passion to feed the world through children’s feeding initiatives, community outreach, and disaster response.
