One of the biggest stories so far in the 2026 FIFA World Cup happened here in my own back yard. Cape Verde held powerhouse Spain to a draw in their opening World Cup Group H soccer match in Atlanta earlier in the week. At the time of writing Tuesday morning, the National Hurricane Center is watching a system near the Texas-Mexico border that could briefly become the first named storm, Arthur, of the Atlantic season. It has a 60% chance of further development. Why am I talking about World Cup soccer, hurricanes, and Cape Verde in the same article? I’ll explain.

From a sports perspective, Spain is considered one of the teams that could win the World Cup, so a tie to Cape Verde is basically a “loss.” Undoubtedly many people were asking where Cape Verde is located. It is a small chain of islands off the west coast of Africa. It is officially known as the Republic of Cabo Verde. The archipelago is roughly 370 to 530 miles west of Cap-Vert, which is the westernmost point of the African continent. The collective of ten volcanic islands, which takes its name from that point, covers a little over 1500 square miles of land area. The island nation gained its independence from Portugal in 1975, but Portuguese is still the official language.

What’s the Connection To Hurricanes?

Meteorologists like me often refer to something called the “Cape Verde” part of the hurricane season. What does that mean? During the early months of hurricane season tropical systems are more likely to form in the Gulf or eastern Caribbean region. That’s why it is not surprising that NHC is monitoring that system near Texas. "A trough of low pressure located inland near the Texas/Mexico border continues to produce a large area of disorganized showers and thunderstorms…. Regardless of tropical cyclone formation, interests across southern and eastern Texas and portions of Louisiana and Mississippi should prepare for periods of intense rainfall over the next several days," wrote NHC early Tuesday morning. It could briefly become “Arthur” if it moves out over Gulf waters.

As the season progresses into the more active months, more “seedling” African easterly waves have the potential to become tropical storms or hurricanes. Those clusters of clouds typically move very close to the Cape Verde islands as they head westward across the Atlantic Ocean. That’s why we often refer to the later months as the Cape Verde season. “Meteorologists define a “Cape Verde-type hurricane” as an Atlantic tropical cyclone that develops into a tropical storm within 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) of the Cape Verde Islands,” wrote Laurent Gachnang.

On the Cabo Verde website, she described the place as a birthplace of giants. “The process typically begins thousands of miles away over continental Africa, where “African easterly waves” emerge from the coast during the summer and early autumn. As these low-pressure systems move over the warm tropical waters surrounding the Cabo Verde archipelago, they find the perfect “fuel” to intensify,” she went on to say.