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New area to watch flagged in Atlantic on peak day of hurricane season

Sept. 10 is the statistical peak of the Atlantic hurricane season. Things were quiet until the National Hurricane Center highlighted a new area of the basin to watch for possible development.

By Aaron Barker Source FOX Weather

New area to watch highlighted on peak day of hurricane season

FOX Weather Hurricane Specialist discusses the status of the Atlantic on the peak day of hurricane season.

MIAMI – A new area where tropical development has a chance of happening was highlighted Wednesday – the statistical peak of hurricane season.

Sept. 10 is typically the day when there is the best chance of having an active tropical system in the Atlantic Ocean. 

Everything seemed quiet until the National Hurricane Center flagged an area west of Africa for the potential for development.

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"A tropical wave is forecast to emerge offshore of west Africa in a couple of days," NHC forecasters wrote in the outlook. "Environmental conditions could support some slow development of the system over the weekend into early next week as the wave moves to the west-northwest at about 15 mph over the eastern and central tropical Atlantic."

The area has a low chance of development within a week. 

Anything that emerges in this region faces a tough go of it, with an abundance of dry air and wind shear being present.

Back to the future

FOX Weather Hurricane Specialist Bryan Norcross noted in his blog Tuesday that attention will turn to the western Caribbean and the southern Gulf in a couple of weeks.

That’s where fronts that are becoming more frequent as the seasons change die and stir up tropical trouble this time of year. It happens through the extra lift and spin that these decaying fronts provide over areas of very warm water, leading to the development of low-pressure systems.

"As we saw last year with the development of hurricanes Helene and Milton, some years the important storms don’t come from the tropical Atlantic," Norcross said. "Strong hurricanes can and do develop close to home in late September and October."

There were 12 named storms that developed after Sept. 10, 2024. The season ended with Sara in mid-November.

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Workers, community members, and business owners clean up debris in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in Marshall, North Carolina on Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

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A crew works to chainsaw and remove a large tree which fell on McClendon Avenue NE across from Neighborhood Church in the Candler Park neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia on Friday, September 27, 2024. (David Walter Banks)

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A view of the damaged area at Asheville along with the western part of North-Carolina is devastated by the heavy rains and flooding after Hurricane Helene in Asheville, on September 30, 2024. (Peter Zay/Anadolu via Getty Images)

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A drone image shows the dome of Tropicana Field which has been torn open due to Hurricane Milton in St. Petersburg, Florida, on October 10, 2024. (BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP)

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Flooding in Fort Myers, Florida ahead of Hurricane Milton's landfall on Oct. 9, 2024. (Photo: Brandy Campbell/FOX Weather)  ( )

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A police vehicle blocks an intersection where a traffic signal pole snapped n the downtown business area after Hurricane Milton passed through on October 10, 2024 in Orlando, Florida. The storm made landfall on Wednesday night on Florida's Gulf coast as a Category 3 hurricane before traveling across Central Florida, causing massive destruction and leaving 3 million Floridians without power. (Photo by Paul Hennessy/Anadolu via Getty Images) ( )

It only takes one

Experts reminded people who live along the coast that it only takes one storm to cause major problems. Residents are urged to remain vigilant despite the lull.

The next name on the Atlantic list is Gabrielle, followed by Humberto, Imelda and Jerry.

Hurricane season runs until Nov. 30.

Download the FOX Weather app to follow everything that happens during hurricane season.

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An overview of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season as of Sept. 10, 2025. (FOX Weather)