Nadine Storm may have been “torn apart” when Hurricane Milton hit Florida

A brewing disturbance in the western Atlantic that officials were monitoring on Wednesday was “torn apart” by strong winds.

Hurricane Milton made landfall near Siesta Key, Florida, on Wednesday evening as a Category 3 storm. The storm hit Florida's west coast after officials issued countless warnings of possible fatalities. By Thursday, Milton had crossed the Sunshine State and was classified as a Category 1 hurricane off its east coast.

In addition to Milton, the NHC tracked another hurricane and two disturbances in the Atlantic. Hurricane Leslie is in the North Atlantic and is expected to continue its path away from the United States

One of the faults has little chance of formation and is located in the eastern tropical Atlantic. However, a second disturbance had a 30 percent chance of developing on Wednesday, and it was brewing closer to the United States. Had the storm developed, it would have become Tropical Storm Nadine, although its path would have taken it away from a landpoint in the United States. But by Thursday morning the problem had disappeared.

“There were a lot of hostile winds south of Bermuda and the storm was torn apart,” said Alex DaSilva, senior hurricane forecaster at AccuWeather Newsweek. “That’s why it was never able to develop into an organized tropical system.”

The fault is now east of Bermuda. DaSilva said it was unlikely that Milton was involved in destroying the disturbance, although he said it was possible that outflow from Milton increased the wind shear that destroyed the storm.

“Perhaps Milton could have created additional wind shear,” DaSilva said. “Wind shear prevented this from becoming an organized tropical system.”

Hurricane Milton hit Florida just two weeks after Hurricane Helene made landfall as a Category 4 storm in Florida's Big Bend region before moving inland, bringing torrential rain and catastrophic flooding to North Carolina.

After a relatively calm September for the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, the storms occurred one after the other. Earlier this year, weather experts warned of the high likelihood of an above-average hurricane season, citing the El Niño climate pattern and unusually warm sea surface temperatures.

In May, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released a forecast that predicted 17 to 25 named storms with winds of 39 miles per hour or more.

“Of these, 8 to 13 are expected to be hurricanes (wind speeds of 74 miles per hour or greater), including 4 to 7 major hurricanes (Category 3, 4 or 5; with wind speeds of 111 miles per hour or greater). Meteorologists have a 70 percent certainty in these areas,” the forecast said.

In August, NOAA updated its forecast and now expects 17 to 24 named storms this season.

Since unrest in the Atlantic never increased, Nadine is next on the storm naming list. Should Nadine form, it would be the 14th named storm this season.