The subtropical Oscar storm snaking in the central Atlantic Ocean

<div _ngcontent-c14 = "" innerhtml = "

The subtropical storm Oscar formed in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean on Friday night. The fifteenth storm of the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season began life like so many other storms this year – not just of tropical type, but close enough for it to matter. Forecasters expect the storm to turn into a hurricane as it crosses the center of the Atlantic over the next week.

Oscar formed from a non-tropical low pressure system that was slowly starting to acquire subtropical features. A subtropical storm is a depression system that is not totally tropical, which means that its structure is not compact, that it does not have warm air during the storm and that it draws some of its wind energy in the highest regions. The subtropical storms in the Atlantic often turn into totally tropical entities if they stay on warmer waters, and that's exactly what Oscar should do in the next few days.

According to the National Hurricane Center's latest forecast, the subtropical Oscar storm is expected to turn into a hurricane by early next week as it moves unhindered east of Bermuda. It is likely that the rest of the storm will run safely away from the land in the central Atlantic Ocean, where it will pose a threat to anyone other than some ships traveling between continents.

We observed a number of named storms above normal in the Atlantic Ocean this year. An average season sees 12 named storms and we have seen 15 so far this year. However, the number of storms that form does not tell the whole story. Most of the Atlantic storms have been weak or short-lived, reflecting the relatively hostile conditions on the other side of the Atlantic this season.

Nearly half of the named storms we saw this year were subtropical storms at some point in their lives. Six named storms – Alberto, Debby, Ernesto, Joyce, Leslie and Oscar – began as subtropical storms, while Beryl turned into a subtropical storm after being tropical before losing his organization. This is a record number of subtropical storms in the Atlantic, according to Philip Klotzbach, hurricane specialist. Despite the unusual number of subtropical storms, two storms have managed to reach their full potential – Florence and Michael – and have become historic disasters in the United States, reinforcing the fact that major storms are possible even in an otherwise unobtrusive year.

">

The subtropical storm Oscar formed in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean on Friday night. The fifteenth storm of the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season began life like so many other storms this year – not just of tropical type, but close enough for it to matter. Forecasters expect the storm to turn into a hurricane as it crosses the center of the Atlantic over the next week.

Oscar formed from a non-tropical low pressure system that was slowly starting to acquire subtropical features. A subtropical storm is a depression system that is not totally tropical, which means that its structure is not compact, that it does not have warm air during the storm and that it draws some of its wind energy in the highest regions. The subtropical storms in the Atlantic often turn into totally tropical entities if they stay on warmer waters, and that's exactly what Oscar should do in the next few days.

According to the National Hurricane Center's latest forecast, the subtropical Oscar storm is expected to turn into a hurricane by early next week as it moves unhindered east of Bermuda. It is likely that the rest of the storm will run safely away from the land in the central Atlantic Ocean, where it will pose a threat to anyone other than some ships traveling between continents.

We observed a number of named storms above normal in the Atlantic Ocean this year. An average season sees 12 named storms and we have seen 15 so far this year. However, the number of storms that form does not tell the whole story. Most of the Atlantic storms have been weak or short-lived, reflecting the relatively hostile conditions on the other side of the Atlantic this season.

Nearly half of the named storms we saw this year were subtropical storms at some point in their lives. Six named storms – Alberto, Debby, Ernesto, Joyce, Leslie and Oscar – began as subtropical storms, while Beryl turned into a subtropical storm after being tropical before losing his organization. This is a record number of subtropical storms in the Atlantic, according to Philip Klotzbach, hurricane specialist. Despite the unusual number of subtropical storms, two storms have managed to reach their full potential – Florence and Michael – and have become historic disasters in the United States, reinforcing the fact that major storms are possible even in an otherwise unobtrusive year.