Possible Nadine Storm ‘Ripped Apart’ as Hurricane Milton Hit Florida

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

Hurricane Milton made landfall as a Category 3 storm near Siesta Key, Florida, on Wednesday night. The storm hit Florida’s western coast after officials issued countless warnings about its potential for fatalities. As of Thursday, Milton had cut across the Sunshine State and was classified as a Category 1 hurricane off its eastern coast.

In addition to Milton, the NHC was tracking another hurricane and two disturbances in the Atlantic. Hurricane Leslie is in the North Atlantic and is expected to continue on its path away from the U.S.

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One of the disturbances has little chance of formation and is in the eastern tropical Atlantic. However, a second disturbance had a 30 percent chance of development on Wednesday and was brewing closer to the U.S. If the storm had evolved, it would’ve become Tropical Storm Nadine, although its path would’ve taken it away from a U.S. landfall. But by Thursday morning, the disturbance was gone.

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

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

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“Maybe Milton could have imposed some additional wind shear,” DaSilva said. “Wind shear prevented that from becoming an organized tropical system.”

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

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The storms hit one after another following a relatively quiet September for the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season. Earlier this year, weather experts warned of the high possibility of an above-average hurricane season, citing the climate pattern of El Niño and abnormally warm ocean surface temperatures.

In May, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) published a forecast predicting 17 to 25 named storms with winds of 39 mph or higher.

“Of those, 8 to 13 are forecast to become hurricanes (winds of 74 mph or higher), including 4 to 7 major hurricanes (category 3, 4 or 5; with winds of 111 mph or higher). Forecasters have a 70% confidence in these ranges,” the forecast said.

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

Since the disturbance in the Atlantic never intensified, Nadine is up next on the list of names for storms. If Nadine were to form, it would be the 14th named storm this season.