The Southern Hemisphere has finally produced their first Cyclone for this season, with Alicia. The JTWC’s cone for Alicia As of 0 UTC, the storm is approximately at 15.3 degrees south and 72.8 degrees east, moving south-southeast at 10 knots. Alicia is a low-end Category 1 (SSHWS) Cyclone with winds of 65 knots (75 miles per hour) and a center pressure of 979 millibars. The Dvorak technique, a method of estimate the intensity of a tropical system, analyzed it at T4.0, its minimum value for systems analyzed to have hurricane force winds. The wind field of the storm is relatively small, with gale force winds only extending to 60 kilometres at all directions. The JTWC forecasts it will weaken back to a Tropical Storm later today, and ultimately dissipate by Wednesday, with no land impacts. Météo-France forecasted similarly, with the system weakening and ultimately dissipating on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, 93S, which is located at 9.0 degrees south, 69.2 degrees east is expected to become the second Tropical Storm of the season. A Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert (TCFA) has been issued by the JTWC for 93S, and has marked a high chance of forming. It is forecasted to follow a similar path to Alicia and remain out at sea for its entire life cycle.
Stay tuned for more updates on both storms.
