By AccuWeather senior meteorologist
Updated Aug. 17, 2021 9:03 AM EDT
After nearly a month of no tropical activity over the Atlantic Ocean, the basin was bursting to life by mid-August. A third tropical system, Tropical Storm Henri, developed late Monday afternoon near Bermuda, joining Fred and Grace. Henri was initially a tropical depression that took shape on Sunday, but continued to strengthen to become the eighth named storm of the 2021 hurricane season.
A tropical storm watch was in effect for Bermuda on Monday as Henri was located 130 miles south-southeast of Bermuda with maximum sustained winds now up to 50 mph up from 40 mph from earlier Tuesday morning. Henri was moving to the west-southwest at 5 mph.
Tropical Storm Henri is forecast to take a curved path around Bermuda, and it is likely to strengthen and become better organized as it does so, according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Adam Douty.
The main impacts from this tropical system on Bermuda will be to generate rough seas and surf that can pose hazards to small craft operations and bathers around the islands.
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"Squalls with heavy rain and gusty winds may periodically pivot across the islands as the system will loop to the southwest and then turn northward and eventually northeastward," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Brett Anderson said.
At this time, Henri is not expected to be a threat to North America.
The 2021 Atlantic hurricane season was keeping pace with the record 2020 season early this summer but fell behind when the typical tropical doldrums set in during July. With the latest surge in developing systems in August, the 2021 season is gaining some ground on last year's record pace once again but is not likely to catch up. In 2020, there was a record-setting 30 named tropical systems.
In 2020, the "H" storm, Hanna, formed weeks earlier on July 24. By the middle of August, the 2020 season had already churned out 11 named storms after Kyle developed on Aug. 14, 2020.
AccuWeather meteorologists expect the brisk, but sub-record pace of tropical systems to continue through the heart of the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season with a total of 16-20 named systems, of which 14 are predicted to strengthen into hurricane strength. Hurricane season officially ends on Nov. 30, but activity could continue beyond that date.
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