Weather: Number of tropical storms to hit double figures

The Pacific typhoon season has been underway for some time and the Atlantic hurricane season is hitting its peak period.

At the moment we have no fewer than four systems in the Atlantic and four in the Pacific.

Add to that the fact we are still feeling the effects of the remnants of Tropical Depression Gordon, which is now bringing flooding rains to the US Midwest.

Following on from the recent typhoons in Japan, the latest system, Tropical Storm Mangkhut, is currently located to the east of Guam and is expected to cross the island on Monday.

Manghut is forecast to strengthen on its way towards Taiwan, where it is expected to arrive as a super typhoon at around the end of next week.

Staying in the region, there is also a cluster of storms very close to the Philippines which could yet develop into a tropical system over the next few days.

On the other side of the Pacific, Tropical Storm Norman has moved to the north and east of Hawaii and poses no threat to land. However, following on behind we have Hurricane Olivia.

This system is now weakening but does still threaten flooding across Hilo and Honolulu as it moves westwards. It is expected to make landfall on Wednesday.

Further east there is a formation alert for possible tropical storm development just off Mexico’s Pacific coast but activity in the Atlantic is giving much greater cause for concern.

There is a disturbance to the southwest of Mexico which might yet affect the region, but Tropical Storm Florence, which is now gathering strength across the Mid-Atlantic has already gained attention.

The storm looks set to pass to the south of Bermuda and head towards the US east coast around Friday next week. A state of emergency has already been issued in North Carolina.

These storms have been spinning off the coast of Africa on the easterly waves. The next one is already forming. Tropical Depression nine has its sights set on the Lesser Antilles around the middle of next week.

Then we have Tropical Storm Helene. This system is currently located south of the Cape Verde Islands. Hopefully, this one will stay out in the open waters of the Atlantic, but with two and a half months of the season still to run, I suspect there’s plenty more where that came from