Quiet Start to July in Tropical Atlantic

Some good news: With the second month of the Atlantic Basin tropical season starting on Sunday, there's little doing in the tropical Atlantic - for now. As of Sunday, July 1st, there were no areas of tropical concern in the Atlantic basin. A combination of cooler-than-average sea surface temperatures and Saharan dust are helping keep the Atlantic on the quieter side to start July. So far this season, there's only been one named storm - Alberto - and there doesn't appear to be anything brewing in the forseeable future. That strongly contrasts with the tropical Eastern Pacific - as is often the case - where in this basin, they're already up to their sixth named storm so far this season, the earliest such storm in recorded history. Meteorologist Kate Mantych has a detailed look at the Eastern Pacific here. But, this lull is also fairly typical for this time of the year. It's not usually until August when the peak of hurricane season starts, typically lasting through the first week of October. It's certainly not the time to let your guard down, and perhaps a good time to review your hurricane preparedness plan and make sure you're ready for the peak months of the tropical season.   Stay with WeatherNation for the latest through the tropics season. For WeatherNation: Meteorologist Chris Bianchi