12 September, 2017
With Texas reeling from Harvey, Irma devastating several Caribbean islands, and now Jose being upgraded from a tropical storm to a Category 1 hurricane, it's been a rough season for North America. The Great Inagua will be the first island in the Bahamas to be impacted by the hurricane - still in category 5 - and large and catastrophic ravages are expected, with a storm of up to 20 feet high.
During May, the USA weather service predicted a 70 percent chance of 11 to 17 named storms, and five of nine of them would turn into hurricanes.
But it was nothing like the force delivered by deadly Hurricane Irma, which battered many islands, including Barbuda, just days ago. But it may be a concern for the Leeward islands, who have already suffered the brunt of Hurricane Irma.
Mexican emergency services said this week that Katia was worrisome because it is very slow-moving and could dump a lot of rain on areas that have been saturated in recent weeks.
There are certain ingredients needed to create a powerful hurricane.
On Friday, Jose is expected to become a major hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center. For instance, the more strong winds change direction, the more they prevent a hurricane from organizing.
"When dry air comes into the storm, it impedes transfer of heat", Haus said.
The speed in which a hurricane travels also affects its intensity.
Katia was about 125 miles (201 km) west northwest of the port of Veracruz by midmorning on Saturday, the NHC said, noting that the threat of heavy rainfall continued.
How does Hurricane Irma compare to other storms?
Jose joined Irma in reaching 150 miles per hour winds Friday, the first time on record the Atlantic has seen two storms that intense at same time.
There are now three hurricanes in the Atlantic. Wilma, a Category 3, resulted in around $20 billion in damage.
