Hurricane season officially begins June 1st in the Atlantic and Caribbean Sea, but Alberto formed a week early. The water temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico are just a bit too cool for Alberto to gain much strength. We feel this is going to be an active hurricane season and Alberto is just a sign of things to come.
Oman was hit by a category 3 tropical cyclone (Mekunu) which appears to be the strongest tropical system to make land fall in Oman in recorded history. It brought two to three years of rainfall in one day to some cities! Oman does get hit from time to time, but usually these systems are much weaker and weakening.
Is a cyclone different from a hurricane? The only difference is the name. In our part of the world we call tropical systems with winds 74 mph or higher, hurricanes. In Asia they are called typhoons and across the Indian ocean they are called cyclones. They are also called cyclones in the southern hemisphere.
