Cyclonic season starts in the North Atlantic

 HAVANA, Cuba, May 31 (ACN) The cyclonic season in the geographical area of the tropical Atlantic Ocean, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, officially begins on Wednesday and lasts until November 30.

Professionals from the Cuban Institute of Meteorology (INSMET) forecast that it will be active because during that period 17 tropical cyclones may form in the entire North Atlantic basin, of which nine could reach the category of hurricane.

Of these, 12 will develop in the Atlantic oceanic area, three in the Caribbean Sea and two in the Gulf of Mexico, they said, and described as high the probability that at least one hurricane will originate and intensify in the Caribbean (60%) and that one of Atlantic origin will penetrate this subregion (75%).
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They warned that the danger of Cuba being hit by at least one tropical cyclone is high, with an 85% chance and at least one hurricane category, with 60%.

Cuba is one of the few nations that prepares its own forecasts for the current cyclonic period, which are in charge of the Forecasting Centers, along with the Climate Center, both from the Institute of Meteorology, which belongs to the Environment Agency of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment.

Tropical cyclones are named once they reach the tropical storm phase (from 63 to 118 kilometers per hour).

According to their maximum sustained winds averaged in one minute, they are classified as tropical depression, when they are lower than 63 kilometers per hour; tropical storm from 63 to 118, and hurricanes if they are equal or higher than 119, dividing them, according to the Saffir-Simpson scale, into five categories.