Hurricane season blows into Atlantic

The first named storm of the 2009 Atlantic Hurricane Season formed overnight, and Tropical Storm Ana is today moving towards the Caribbean and possibly Florida.

Ana is a fairly weak tropical storm at this stage and conditions aren't too favourable to see her strengthening too much further, however, while she's small she's certainly not insignificant - Ana marks the start of one of the latest hurricane seasons on record, joining only a handful of other storms that formed this late in the season.

One of the most well known late developers was Hurricane Andrew - a Category 5 storm that destroyed much of Florida in 1992. That storm formed on August 17 NZT.

While Ana is a young storm she may still become a hurricane, however, the feeling at this stage is that, that probably won't happen. But as anyone who follows these tropical storms knows, Mother Nature calls the shots and often likes to surprise forecasters.

The name Ana comes from the Italian name Adriana - a form of the Latin name Adrienne - which translated means 'dark' or 'rich.'

Some say the word 'dark' means mysterious - and the storm has been acting a little mysteriously...a few days ago TD-2 (as it was called when it was just a tropical depression) was predicted to become a tropical storm in just "hours" according to American forecaster...but it never happened. In fact, the storm completely fell apart. On Saturday NZT conditions changed and the low had new life breathed into it - this time making tropical storm status.

See the stages of how a hurricane is formed, and what the difference is between a tropical depression, a tropical storm, a hurricane, a typhoon and a tropical cyclone here.

The low behind Ana has a better chance of becoming a hurricane. Next on the list is Bill and already a low has formed - but at the time of writing this blog it hadn't yet been named. The next tropical storm will most likely have more power and aggression than Ana - some forecasters are picking that in 10 days potential hurricane Bill may affect the eastern seaboard of the United States.

While Ana is a young storm she does have the potential to be more memorable than other 'Anas'. This will be the 6th time the name 'Ana' has been used and all these storms caused no damage and avoided land (which is why the name 'Ana' was used again. Andrew, on the other hand, won't be used again - as won't Katrina, or in our neck of the woods, Bola, as these storms were so devastating).

This tropical storm is certainly more newsworthy as she not only marks a very late start to the season but she also has a track that will take her near many populated places - including the possibility of the United States.

And don't be fooled by the late start to the season - it doesn't mean a quiet hurricane season is on the way. Remember Hurricane Andrew was later than Ana and that was a monster storm.

Read the full list of 2009 Atlantic (and Pacific) tropical storm names here - your name might be on the list!

Also, check out our International Weather News section.

- Philip Duncan