Originating near Cuba, Tropical Storm Zeta is the 27th named storm of this hurricane season in the Atlantic Ocean. This means 2020 equals the record year 2005, more than a month before the season ends on November 30.
Zeta is slowly moving through the Caribbean Sea between Cuba and Central America. Over the course of next week, the storm is expected to move into the Gulf of Mexico, targeting Cuba and Mexico’s Yucatán peninsula. Meanwhile, another hurricane, Epsilon, is moving farther into the Atlantic.
This hurricane season was already remarkable because after the storm Wilfred the names for storms ran out. Therefore, for only the second time in history, meteorologists turned to letters of the Greek alphabet, starting with Alpha on September 18.
Less boisterous
2020 has so far been much less turbulent than 2005, when fourteen storms developed into hurricanes, three of which reached the highest category, both an unprecedented number.
This year there were only ten hurricanes. Moreover, they caused much less damage than in 2005: that season, for example, saw hurricane Katrina, which caused a lot of destruction in New Orleans.
On average, thirteen named storms occur in a season. The chance that the Greek letters will run out is small, there are still eighteen left, with Èta next.
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