The interaction between the jet stream over North America and tropical waters during the summer can make for a stormy combination, resulting in tropical development near the U.S. East Coast.
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00:00 Some hurricanes that hit the US spawn thousands of miles away near the west coast of Africa.
00:06 They then travel across the Atlantic where they finally reach the east coast.
00:11 But during the mid-summer, a tropical threat can form much closer to home.
00:16 You see this kind of development during the month of June and generally in early July as well.
00:21 It's what we call homegrown development in the tropics.
00:24 Homegrown meaning that tropical development is close to the United States.
00:29 The two main areas for this type of development are the Gulf of Mexico and off the southeast coast of the US.
00:35 The key to these storms is upper atmospheric energy within the jet stream
00:39 that dips south over the toasty warm waters near the United States coast,
00:43 like a spark to a pile of gunpowder.
00:46 The resulting storms can explode with torrential rain, storm surge, and fierce winds.
00:51 With enough time, these homegrown storms can strengthen to tropical storms and sometimes even hurricanes.
00:57 For AccuWeather, I'm Christina Shalhoub.