After Hurricane Earl made a close pass at the North Carolina coast, it sped off to New England and Atlantic Canada. Two weak tropical systems attempted to follow Earl’s path but ultimately failed. Tropical Storm Fiona maintained a close distance to the more powerful Earl. Earl overpowered Fiona and shredded it into the open ocean. Tropical Storm Gaston appeared like a strong contender to be the next East Coast menace, but sputtered into submission late last week after ingesting dry air from the Sahara Desert. The remnants of Gaston are moving past Jamaica and could possibly strengthen again in the Gulf of Mexico.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Hermine (not pronounced like Harry Potter’s friend) sprung to life over Labor Day weekend and quickly spun into Texas. That region already experienced heavy rainfall from Hurricane Alex, so forecasters fear that the Rio Grande and Brazos Rivers will once again flood from Hermine’s rain. There are currently no active hurricanes, but more embryonic lows are departing the African coastline this week. The next to develop would spin to the northwest under the menacing name “Igor.” The average peak of activity during the Atlantic hurricane season is Sept 10.