There has been a flurry of tropical storm activity across the Atlantic and the Caribbean this week, but with less than 90 days remaining in the 2013 Atlantic hurricane season, energy interests in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) remain unscathed, and the season has yet to produce a single hurricane.

The GOM isn’t likely to see much damage from any of the weather patterns being tracked by the National Hurricane Center (NHC) Thursday afternoon.

Tropical Depression Gabrielle, the seventh named storm of the season, was weakening Thursday, with maximum sustained winds of just 30 mph, as it edged closer to the Dominican Republic. “Gabrielle remains very poorly organized and it is expected to degenerate to a remnant low pressure area tonight or Friday,” NHC said.

NHC was also monitoring a broad area of low pressure over the southwestern GOM, about 200 miles east of Tampico, Mexico. “Showers and thunderstorms are showing signs of organization, and a tropical depression could form before the low moves inland along the coast of Mexico on Friday,” NHC said. The system had a 50% chance of becoming a tropical cyclone during the succeeding 48 hours, NHC said Thursday afternoon. But with the low pressure expected to move onshore Mexico, it seemed doubtful that GOM energy interests farther north would be threatened.

NHC was also tracking a large area of disorganized showers and thunderstorms extending from the northern Leeward Islands, which was given a 20% chance of becoming a tropical cyclone, and a tropical wave about 500 miles west-southwest of the Cape Verde Islands, which was given a 10% change of becoming a tropical cyclone.

While the consensus forecast has been for above-average tropical storm activity this year, forecasters have been moderating their pre-season predictions (see Daily GPI, Aug. 23). In a tropical forecast issued last month, Weather Services International (WSI) Chief Meteorologist Todd Crawford pointed out that 70% of all named storms and 80% of all hurricanes in the past 10 years have occurred after Aug. 15, “so the heart of the season is still on the way.”

The 2013 Atlantic Hurricane season, which officially began June 1 and ends Nov. 30, has so far produced seven named storms, including Gabrielle.

The first named storm of the season, Tropical Storm Andrea, formed in the eastern GOM on June 5 and quickly traveled North, causing little damage as it hurried up the East Coast. Tropical Storm Barry formed almost two weeks later in the southern GOM and made landfall near Veracruz, Mexico. Tropical Storm Chantal formed off the east coast of South America on July 7 but was downgraded to a Tropical Wave well before reaching the Florida coast days later. Tropical Storm Dorian formed in the eastern Atlantic and dissipated before reaching the Caribbean in the last week of July.

Erin, the fifth named storm of the season, formed in August and was briefly a Tropical Storm before breaking up in the central Atlantic (see Daily GPI, Aug. 19). Tropical Storm Fernand formed over the western Bay of Campeche in the final week of August before quickly dissipating over Mexico.