Hurricane season starts with first storm

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Wed, Jun 01 2011 at 4:02 PM

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Tornado, Hurricane

This June 1, 2011 image from shows the low pressure area off the northeastern Florida coast as a small rounded area of clouds. The circular shaded areas in the center are higher thunderstorms. (Photo: NASA/GOES Project)

Hurricane season began today and the tropics responded with a storm moving toward the northeast Florida coast.

NASA stated in a news release that the storm is a low-pressure area and appears to have several rounded areas of clouds in satellite images. The agency noted that the shadows in the middle of the storm could indicate some towering, strong thunderstorms near the circulation center of the low pressure area.

As of 8 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, the storm was about 200 miles east of Jacksonville, Florida and was moving west-southwest about about 20 miles per hour.

NASA stated that there was a medium chance the storm could become the hurricane season’s first tropical depression in the next 24 hours. If that happens, the storm would receive the name Arlene.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted a busy hurricane season this year, saying there will be 12 to 18 named storms this year. Of those storms, the agency said it expects 6 to 10 to become hurricanes and 3 to 6 to become major hurricanes with winds of 111 miles per hour or higher.

This hurricane season gets underway in the midst of one of the deadliest tornado years ever. More than 500 people have been killed in tornadoes this year.