NC could see rip currents this weekend from Subtropical Storm Ana

By WRAL Severe Weather Center

Hurricane season started more than a week early for 2021, when Subtropical Storm Ana formed late Friday night. Although the season officially doesn’t start until June 1, Ana caps a seven-year streak of named storms before that date.

Another disturbance off the western Gulf of Mexico has a 40 percent chance of developing into a tropical system over the next few days. The system will bring lots of rain to Texas and Louisiana. Flooding could be a problem for those states as they’ve seen a lot of rain in recent days.

Neither system poses a threat to North Carolina.

A sub-tropical storm is less organized than a tropical storm or hurricane, it forms in cooler waters, and maximum winds are further from the center of the system, WRAL meteorologist Mike Maze explained.

The system, which is northeast of Bermuda, poses no threat to North Carolina, Maze said. The only likely impact is that visitors to the Outer Banks or other North Carolina beaches may see a slightly greater chance for rip currents this weekend.

The system will gradually move away from the United States to the north and east by Monday.

Storms have formed before hurricane season’s start

Should the disturbance develop, it would be Subtropical Storm Ana, and it would mark the seventh year in a row that a named storm formed before the official start of hurricane season, Maze said.

Each year, the World Meteorological Organization issues an alphabetical list of 21 names for the coming season based on location. Lists are re-used every six years.

When a storm does memorable damage, that name is “retired” or removed from the list.

The storm names for the Atlantic in 2021 are:

• Ana
• Bill
• Claudette
• Danny
• Elsa
• Fred
• Grace
• Henri
• Ida
• Julian
• Kate
• Larry
• Mindy
• Nicholas
• Odette
• Peter
• Rose
• Sam
• Teresa
• Victor
• Wanda

Last year was a record-setter, with 30 named storms. Fourteen of those gained hurricane strength and seven were major hurricanes – those of category 3 and above, or with winds exceeding 111 mph.

This year is expected to be an above-normal year in the tropics. According to the NOAA 2021 Hurricane Forecast, we can expect: 13-20 named storms, 6-10 hurricanes, 3-5 major hurricanes.

Forecasters predict a 60% chance of an above-normal season, a 30% chance of a near-normal season, and a 10% chance of a below-normal season. However, experts do not anticipate the historic level of storm activity seen in 2020.