hurricanes and tropical storms

The season's seventh tropical storm, to be named Gabrielle, could form within the next few days off the west African coast, but the hurricane season is meanwhile falling increasingly behind its typical pace.

This year's hurricane season is expected to be busier than ever and Harford emergency managers are urging residents to be prepared.

Last week, it appeared the tropics were gearing up for a flurry of activity, with Tropical Storm Erin and another system in the Gulf of Mexico. But now there is little action expected this week.

Two possible tropical storms are developing just in time for the traditional peak of the Atlantic hurricane season.

Approaching the heart of hurricane season, government forecasters say indicators are pointing to a potentially "very active" pattern in the tropics, affirming pre-season outlooks.

The peak of hurricane season is approaching later this month, but storm activity is unlikely for the first half of August because of a massive cloud of dust from the Sahara Desert moving across the Atlantic.

The former tropical storms Dorian and Flossie are similarly facing unfavorable conditions thousands of miles apart, making it unlikely either will regenerate into tropical cyclones.

The National Weather Service has launched a pair of new supercomputers that could improve forecasting of weather patterns, hurricanes and other storms, much of which takes place at a new facility in College Park.

Tropical Storm Dorian, the fourth cyclone of the Atlantic hurricane season, is moving through the Atlantic, tracking to pass north of Puerto Rico by early next week.

Tropical Storm Chantal is churning through the Lesser Antilles islands and possibly heading toward the East Coast, a path that is more common in the heart of hurricane season than in early July.

The season's second tropical depression formed Monday along the Mexican coast, nearly two weeks after Tropical Storm Andrea, but it's uncertain whether it will become Tropical Storm Barry.

A personal column about weather terminology

Tropical storm warnings have reached the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, with at least the remnants of Tropical Storm Andrea expected to reach Maryland with heavy rain late Friday into Saturday.

Hurricane forecasters are watching a system of thunderstorms and gale-force winds that could soon become Tropical Storm Andrea.

Hurricane season is here, review insurance

This year the National Weather Service is predicting a very active tropical storm season. Only time will tell if the prediction is right, but the best thing to do is take a few precautions, just in case it is.

U.S. government meteorologists predict a "possibly extremely active" hurricane season in 2013, with potentially nearly a dozen hurricanes, as many as half a dozen of them major storms.

AccuWeather.com is predicting another active Atlantic hurricane season, particularly for the U.S. coastline.

Sandy is the 77th name to be retired from the World Meteorological Organization's list, joining memorable storms to hit Maryland like Irene, Isabel, Gloria and Agnes.

An early 2013 hurricane season forecast is calling for a busy summer and fall, with a nearly 50 percent chance of a major storm striking the U.S. East Coast.

The National Hurricane Center will in the future maintain any necessary hurricane watches or warnings even if a storm is no longer technically a hurricane, as in the case of Superstorm Sandy.

With the first major winter storm in two years approaching the Baltimore area, Baltimore County officials said Monday evening they will be providing updates on the storm¿s progress and their response on the county website and social media accounts.

State regulators investigating the widespread, long-lasting outages from the derecho windstorm last summer ordered Wednesday that Maryland utilities improve reliability.