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Tropical Storm Cindy has become a second rare June deep tropics storm, as Tropical Storm Bret brought heavy rain and strong winds to parts of the eastern Caribbean.
Tropical Storm Cindy formed late Thursday night. What had been Tropical Depression Four was upgraded to the season's fourth storm, Cindy, late Thursday night.
I?t's well east of the Lesser Antilles and is forecast to turn toward the northwest over the next few days. If it remains on that path, it would track north of the Leeward Islands early next week.
C?indy should gain some strength over the next few days, but then face a combination of shearing winds and dry air that will then weaken it early next week.
Here are Bret's impacts in the Windward Islands: Bret's center is now in the eastern Caribbean Sea. But that doesn't mean its impacts in the Windward Islands are over yet.
W?inds gusted as high as 69 mph in St. Lucia and 56 mph at Grantley Adams International Airport on the southern end of Barbados east of the island's capital, Bridgetown.
Tropical storm warnings are in effect for St. Lucia, Martinique and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Winds are expected to diminish later this morning as Bret pulls farther away.
F?lash flood warnings were posted on Barbados Thursday night, where 1 to 2 inches of rain had already fallen.
Rainfall totals of 3 to 6 inches, with up to 10 inches possible are expected across portions of the Lesser Antilles from Guadeloupe south to St. Vincent and the Grenadines, including Barbados, according to the National Hurricane Center. The heavy rainfall could lead to flash flooding, especially across areas of higher terrain.
Bret will fizzle this weekend. Bret will continue on its westerly track into this weekend.
It is expected to weaken in the eastern Caribbean Sea where it will encounter increasingly hostile winds and some dry air. The National Hurricane Center forecast calls for Bret to dissipate sometime this weekend.
B?ret won't threaten the mainland United States given the forecast calls for its dissipation in the Caribbean. Some of this moisture may eventually make it to Central America.
T?he National Hurricane Center began issuing forecast advisories on this system late Monday morning, as it had enough low-level spin and thunderstorms near it to be designated a tropical cyclone.
While neither storm was all that impactful, the combination of Bret and Cindy did make history in a few respects.
It was the first time we had two tropical storms form east of the Lesser Antilles in June. Only about 6% of all storms form in June.
O?f the June storms that do form, the overwhelming majority form in the Gulf of Mexico, the western Caribbean Sea or just off the East Coast.
A?ccording to the recently-updated NOAA database, only a handful of all June storms had previously formed east of the Lesser Antilles in records dating to the mid-19th century.
N?ever before had more than one such storm formed in the same hurricane season in June east of the Lesser Antilles, until Bret and Cindy did so.
Two June storms active at once is rare anywhere in the Atlantic Basin. According to Colorado State University tropical scientist Phil Klotzbach, Bret and Cindy marked the first time two storms were active at one time in June since 1968.
I?n the satellite era - since 1966 - June has averaged one storm every 1 to 2 years.
Record ocean warmth provided fuel. One factor that has contributed to the development of Bret and Cindy is ocean warmth. A?ll other factors equal, warmer ocean water can provide more fuel for tropical systems to intensify.
O?ver the strip of the Atlantic Ocean between Africa and the Lesser Antilles is an area known as the "main development region" (MDR), where many intense hurricanes get their start. Ocean temperatures there have smashed mid-June records. Water temperatures near Cabo Verde and points west into the central tropical Atlantic are generally in the low 80s, which is sufficient heating for tropical development.
WPLG-TV hurricane expert Michael Lowry noted these sea-surface temperatures are more typical of the heart of hurricane season - early September - rather than June. Water temperatures in the proximity of this system are 2 to 5 degrees above average.
That's due in part to lighter than usual trade winds from a weaker than average Bermuda-Azores high, according to Brian McNoldy, tropical scientist at the University of Miami.
T?he last "Bret" was also a rare June "east of the Antilles" storm. If this Bret scenario sounds like déjà vu, you're right.
A?tlantic Basin hurricane and tropical storm names repeat every six years, unless one storm is so deadly and/or destructive that it's retired from future use ?to avoid confusion.
I?n 2017, Tropical Storm Bret also formed just east of the Lesser Antilles in June, one of those rare previous handful of storms to do that prior to 2023's Bret and Cindy.
T?he 2017 Bret also fizzled quickly in the Caribbean Sea after soaking Trinidad and Tobago.
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