The peak of hurricane season is here, and we're actively watching a tropical threat to Hawaii from Hurricane Lowell while tracking Karina and Marie in the Pacific.

Tracking the Pacific

Projected path for Hurricane Lowell

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Watches and warnings from Lowell

Spaghetti models for Lowell and its potential threat to Hawaii

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Rainfall forecast

Spaghetti models for Marie

Likelihood of a potential moisture surge in part from Marie late next week into the following weekend

Sea surface temperatures

Pacific tracks so far this season

Tracking the Atlantic

Sea surface temperatures

Wind shear

These are areas of strong wind shear, the difference in wind speed and direction with height, which are shown in purple. High wind shear is hostile to mature tropical cyclones and those trying to develop.

(MORE: What is wind shear)

Dry, dusty air

Another nemesis of tropical systems is dry air.

In hurricane season, plumes of dust-laden air stream across the basin from Africa's Sahara Desert, as you can see in the map below. This sinking, dry air squelches thunderstorm development, the building blocks of tropical storms and hurricanes.

So areas in the brown shading below are generally unfavorable for development.

Atlantic tracks so far this season

These are the tracks of systems that were at least tropical or subtropical storms, so far in the Atlantic Basin.

Season activity compared to average

Accumulated Cyclone Energy, or ACE, is a metric that measures the total energy produced by tropical storms and hurricanes over a given period, accounting for both how strong they were and how long they lasted.

It's another measure meteorologists use to gauge how active a hurricane season has been.