June Too Soon 2020 Hurricane Summary

Dale C. S. Destin|

June too soon is over, one month down and five more to go for the Atlantic hurricane season. This June had two named storms – Tropical Storms Cristobal and Dolly, the most since 2017. Only four seasons have seen more named storms in June – 1968, 1936, 1909 and 1886.

2020 Tropical Cyclone Tracks Through June 30

Tropical Storm Cristobal became the third named storm for the year – June 1 to 10. It also became the earliest third named storm on record – previous was Tropical Storm Collin of 2016.

Clouds from Tropical Storm Cristobal covering much of Mexico and Central America

Interestingly, Cristobal formed from the remnants of Tropical Storm Amanda. Amanda was the first named storm of the East Pacific hurricane season. It formed on May 30, just south of Guatemala and west El Salvador and moved onshore that area May 31, then rapidly dissipated the same day. That was the end of Amanda but the start of Cristobal.

Checkout this animation – rainfall from #TS_Amanda of the Pacific hurricane season, whose remnants became #TS_Cristobal of the of the current Alt hurricane season. Some places across #CentralAmerica and the #Yucatán got over 2ft of rainfall in about a wk. https://t.co/p8S8W8AmMu pic.twitter.com/yo4Rz1UaE9

— 268Weather (@268Weather) June 30, 2020

Together, Tropical Storms Amanda and Cristobal, left a trail of destruction and death caused mainly by torrential rainfall, amounting to up to 1016 mm (40 in), in some areas. The trail runs from Central America to Canada, passing through eastern Mexico, central United States and Canada.

Dolly – June 22 to 24, was a “sheep of a storm”. It formed over the Atlantic, hundreds of miles east of New York and travelled parallel to the east coasts of the United States and Canada, never making landfall.

Upon formation, Dolly became the third earliest fourth named storm in a year, on record. Only Tropical Storm Debby of 2012 and Tropical Storm Danielle of 2016, were earlier. Dolly also became the farthest north forming Atlantic tropical storm, on record, before July 1.

Four down, 13 to 22 more are forecast

Recall that there is a storm in June every other year; one hurricane every 8 years and a major hurricane every 50 years, on average. The month has now gone six years without a hurricane and 54 years without a major hurricane. A good “drought” to have, right?

Recall also the we (Antigua and Barbuda) has never had a storm in June, so the happy streak continues. This is also true for most islands of the Caribbean east of Cuba.

The season is certainly off to a busy record tying start. Thus far, there have been four named storms – Tropical Storms Arthur, Bertha, Cristobal and Dolly. This year ties with 2012 and 1954 for the most named storms by July 1.

Although it was an active June, it may have been more active, if not for record levels of Saharan Dust traversing the tropical North Atlantic, the Caribbean and especially the Western Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico, the main development regions during June. It was certainly a dust event for the ages.  

Saharan Dust as seen by Goes 16 Satellite at mid day June 23, 2020

So, it’s 30 days down and 152 more to go for the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season. Attention now turns to July stand by. Be prepared, be hurricane strong!

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