Hurricane Lull Ending, With New Forecast for Up to 21 Storms (2)

摘要

A quick start to the Atlantic hurricane season saw five storms form so far this year, well ahead of normal pace of a normal year, before settling into a lull that’s lasted several weeks. Theconditions that created this quiet period - an annual eruption of waves of dry air and dust from the Sahara rolling out across the Atlantic from Africa to the Americas - are ending just asthe traditionally hurricane-heavy month of August begins.The large cloud of Saharan Desert dust spent much of July meandering across the Atlantic basin, showing up on NASA satellites as a light-beige smudge spreading out from West Africaand reaching all the way to South America. While the dust itself doesn’t stops hurricanes, the dry air that carries it stops thunderstorms drifting across the Atlantic from growing intotropical storms.