A nice distinction in terms of definitions here here.

Hurricane Barry was only active in the Gulf of Mexico - is that part of the Atlantic?

Andrea formed in the Atlantic Ocean, but only made it to Tropical Storm status

It was still part of the Atlantic hurricane season.

I heard a couple of weeks ago that there is an unusually amount of Sahara sand being blown across the central north Atalntic this year, which maybe is helping to stem the development of tropical systems.

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urricane Barry 

Wrong! Barry formed in the Gulf of Mexico and at any rate it never reached Hurricane status: - It remained a Tropical storm with Hurricane gusts perhaps! So we have yet to see our first Hurricane in the Atlantic this 2019 season! :)

Just reading about it here:

https://edition.cnn.com/us/live-news/tropical-storm-barry-saturday-2019-intl/index.html

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I heard a couple of weeks ago that there is an unusually amount of Sahara sand being blown across the central north Atalntic this year, which maybe is helping to stem the development of tropical systems.

 

Yes Hot weather few weeks back from Sahara! I heard!

Same for the heat wave 2 weeks ago and the previous one back during End of June and even our first burst of unseasonably warm weather in February when we hit 21c in some parts of the UK.

 

 

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It was still part of the Atlantic hurricane season.

I only count Hurricanes that are in the Atlantic. Usually by now we would have seen at least 2 or 3. We are struggling to see a TS in the Atlantic yet!? - A bit boring really! - Very benign this season thus far! 

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I only count Hurricanes that are in the Atlantic. Usually by now we would have seen at least 2 or 3. We are struggling to see a TS in the Atlantic yet!? - A bit boring really! - Very benign this season thus far! 

I’m hoping it’s going to stay boring and benign for at least the next month Tally. 

With regard to Saharan dust, that’s been the cause of some really beautiful pink skies at sunrise this summer!  

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Wrong! Barry formed in the Gulf of Mexico and at any rate it never reached Hurricane status: - It remained a Tropical storm with Hurricane gusts perhaps! So we have yet to see our first Hurricane in the Atlantic this 2019 season! :)

Just reading about it here:

https://edition.cnn.com/us/live-news/tropical-storm-barry-saturday-2019-intl/index.html

As people have correctly pointed out Barry is technically an Atlantic system (officially) and also reached Cat 1 status by landfall. I was in the US at the time and coverage was extensive. 

The funny thing is the link you posted actually states, “Barry made landfall this afternoon in Louisiana as a Category 1 hurricane”.

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I only count Hurricanes that are in the Atlantic. Usually by now we would have seen at least 2 or 3. We are struggling to see a TS in the Atlantic yet!? - A bit boring really! - Very benign this season thus far! 

In the same way I only count deep lows affecting the UK as official if the centre passes up The Solent 😉

Apart from the fact the GOM is included in the categorisation of tropical systems in the ‘Atlantic’ sector, many Atlantic born systems end up in the GOM anyway so your preference not to include them is a little odd.

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Looks like things may liven up in the Tropical Atlantic sometime soon according to Accurate weather,:

https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/accuweather-2019-atlantic-hurricane-season-likely-to-be-back-end-loaded/70009022 

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As people have correctly pointed out Barry is technically an Atlantic system (officially) and also reached Cat 1 status by landfall. I was in the US at the time and coverage was extensive. 

The funny thing is the link you posted actually states, “Barry made landfall this afternoon in Louisiana as a Category 1 hurricane”.

Most of other reports described it as a TS though upon landfall. So even if it was a cat 1 it prob didn't last that long - maybe an hour for wind speeds of 75mph or more then decreasing?!

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Most of other reports described it as a TS though upon landfall. So even if it was a cat 1 it prob didn't last that long - maybe an hour for wind speeds of 75mph or more then decreasing?!

That doesn’t matter as it was still  a Cat 1 hurricane, albeit briefly. 

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Late start, but end of El Nino implies incidence of hurricanes will be back to average or even above by the end of the season

https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/New-Outlooks-Will-El-Nios-Demise-Boost-Atlantic-Hurricane-Season?cm_ven=cat6-widget

 

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Still watching - analysis of current lack of activity here. Nothing expected for the next ten days.

https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/All-Quiet-Atlantic-Dry-Stable-Air-Rules?cm_ven=cat6-widget

 

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Just seen a BBC weather article on Hurricanes, Typhoons and Cyclones.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/features/48517418

I notice the area of coverage for all 3, but especially tropical cyclones, covers the equator.

Considering the direction of rotation of these intense tropical lows in both hemispheres, which way do they rotate if they are over the equator?

Logic suggests it's not possible as the part of the low to the N of the equator would rotate in an anticlockwise direction, the opposite being true for the southern portion of the low. Convergence? 

Sarah K-L does mention that they never cross the equator; but look at the coverage zones.

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Logic suggests it's not possible as the part of the low to the N of the equator would rotate in an anticlockwise direction, the opposite being true for the southern portion of the low. Convergence? 

Sarah K-L does mention that they never cross the equator; but look at the coverage zones.

Graphically illustrated https://earthscience.stackexchange.com/questions/239/impossible-or-improbable-hurricane-crossing-the-equator

and a comment to the effect that the Coriolis 'force' is not strong enough wihin 4deg of the equator  to support rotating storms

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Graphically illustrated https://earthscience.stackexchange.com/questions/239/impossible-or-improbable-hurricane-crossing-the-equator

and a comment to the effect that the Coriolis 'force' is not strong enough wihin 4deg of the equator  to support rotating storms

Thanks David; then I can conclude the coverage area in the maps shared by SK-L were just generic, in respect of the different names for TSs and not to be taken literally (if that's the right word). 

A good link you gave. The storm tracks in the map completely missing the equator very clear.

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Still watching - analysis of current lack of activity here. Nothing expected for the next ten days.

https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/All-Quiet-Atlantic-Dry-Stable-Air-Rules?cm_ven=cat6-widget

 

Well, that’s good news for our flight out.  I’d like it to stay quiet until 4th September. 

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Tropical storm Chantal has popped up in mid-atlantic (is it an unexpected development of the disorganised area of thunderstorms which has been creeping up the US coast?) but forecast is a) no more than a storm b) track just spirslling around, nt heading this way

https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/graphics_at4.shtml?start#contents

 

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Another extraordinarily quiet hurricane season seems on the cards again this season. Recently arrived back from the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico and the Sargassum issue there has been pretty bad for the last few months with what I believe to be down to declining hurricane activity over the last several years..... Of course this is just a pet theory alongside Amazonian pollution runoff into the Caribbean Sea.

As Chantal dies, the Atlantic seems to be waking up. Two disturbances with high chances of becoming fully-fledged storms in the next couple of days, one off Florida for the US coast, one on a southerly track through mid-Atlantic. 

https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/?atlc

With hurricane activity so low thus far, there must be a fair amount of thermal energy available for storm development.

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