National Hurricane Center: Tropical Storm Sally could strengthen to Category 2 hurricane before landfall on Gulf Coast Tuesday

This year’s hurricane season is on pace to be the most active of all time, so it’s no wonder that the tropics remain very busy.

The National Hurricane Center now sees several tropical waves in the Atlantic storm basin.

Tropical Storm Sally is just off the west coast of Florida and is expected to strengthen into a hurricane by late Monday.

Sally is moving west-northwest at 13 mph across the Gulf of Mexico with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph.

Sally is expected to bring extremely dangerous and life-threatening storm surge. Storm surge warnings have been issued from Port Fourchon in Louisiana to the Mississippi/Alabama border.

Tropical Storm Sally could be a Category 2 hurricane before landfall on the Gulf Coast.

Sally is the earliest “S” storm in recorded history.

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Out in the Atlantic, Hurricane Paulette is moving north-northwest at 14 mph with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph.

Now a Category 1 hurricane, Paulette has maximum sustained winds of 75 miles per hour. The storm is moving west-northwest at 14 mph.

Paulette is expected to approach the Bermuda on Sunday evening into Monday. A hurricane warning is currently in effect for the island.

After hitting Bermuda, the storm is expected to turn north and stay away from the United States. Swells from Paulette are expected to impact parts of the Leeward Islands, the Greater Antilles, the Bahamas, Bermuda and the southeastern United States.

Rene is currently a tropical depression out in the Atlantic Ocean moving northwest at 14 mph with maximum sustained winds of 30 mph.

What happens when we run out of letters of the alphabet for hurricane names?

The west coast of Africa is also busy; there are two tropical waves near the continent.

Tropical Depression 20 has formed off the west coast of Africa. The depression is moving west-northwest at 10 mph with maximum sustained winds of 35 mph.

Another tropical wave off Africa’s coast has a 70 percent chance of formation in the next 48 hours.

The next storm to become a tropical storm will be named Teddy, meaning there are only three more letters in the alphabet for storm names this year (Teddy, Vicky, Wilfred). Here’s what happens if we run out of names.

The last time that happened was 2005–which is the current record holder for the most active hurricane season ever.