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First tropical wave of 2025 Atlantic hurricane season forms off Africa's coast

By Emilee Speck
Published  May 21, 2025 12:00pm EDT
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FOX Weather

The Brief

    • The official start to the Atlantic hurricane season is June 1, but activity is already starting to pop up with the first tropical wave of the season forming off Africa’s coast.
    • FOX Weather Meteorologists Stephen Morgan and Ari Sarsalari break down the latest on May 21, 2025.

ORLANDO, Fla. - The start of the Atlantic hurricane season is still over a week away. However, forecasters are tracking the season's first tropical wave in the far eastern Atlantic Ocean. 

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said the tropical wave formed on Monday off the western coast of Africa and was moving west. 

The tropical wave in the far eastern Atlantic Ocean on May 20, 2025. | CREDIT: FOX Weather

A tropical system needs a few important ingredients to form, including warm ocean waters and the right wind shear conditions. There also needs to be a disturbance in the atmosphere like a tropical wave, also known as an easterly wave. According to NOAA, a tropical wave is an inverted region of low pressure moving westward.

WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A TROPICAL DEPRESSION, TROPICAL STORM AND HURRICANE?

Many tropical waves serve as a seed for the development of tropical systems, including hurricanes. According to the NHC, about 60% of tropical storms and Category 1 or 2 hurricanes in the Atlantic originate from tropical waves. About 60 to 70 tropical waves form each hurricane season.

However, forecasters are not expecting this first wave of the season to develop. According to the NHC, nothing is expected to develop over the next week. 

The Atlantic hurricane season begins June 1. The first named storm of this season will be called Andrea.

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The Source: The information in this article comes from FOX Weather.

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