Hurricanes bucking patterns by forming in western Atlantic Ocean.

Publication: South Florida Sun-Sentinel (via Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service)

Bookmark this article Print this article Link to this article Email this article Digg It! Add to del.icio.us RSS

COPYRIGHT 2005 South Florida Sun-Sentinal

Byline: Robert Nolin

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ This year, hurricanes just aren't acting like they used to.

The major storms are bucking traditional patterns by forming in the western, rather than eastern, Atlantic Ocean. Instead of taunting worried residents for days, they materialize, it seems, overnight.

The trend has baffled scientists.

Hurricane Katrina swept through Broward and Miami-Dade counties last month as a Category 1 storm _ a scant two days after developing in the Caribbean. Storms typically come to life in the far eastern Atlantic Ocean, often near Cape Verde, then pinwheel westward for several days, their ultimate course studied with dread speculation...

Read the full article for free courtesy of your local library.