2024-10-01 20:20:03
The National Hurricane Center said Tuesday it is continuing to track Tropical Storm Kirk, in addition to two other tropical disturbances in the Atlantic Ocean, while Joyce has weakened and dissipated. The storm activity is on the heels of the deadly and devastating Hurricane Helene, which made landfall last week in the Southeast. More than 1 million were still without power Tuesday morning.
The NHC said Tuesday morning Kirk was located about 935 miles west of the Cabo Verde Islands and had maximum sustained winds around 60 mph. The system is forecast to continue moving to the west-northwest through Tuesday night before gradually turning toward the northwest on Wednesday and Thursday.
“Kirk is forecast to strengthen into a hurricane by tonight and could become a major hurricane on Thursday,” the NHC said Tuesday morning.
Current forecast models show the system curving north into the middle of the Atlantic, well away from the U.S.
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Atlantic storm tracker
NHC also tracking two other systems in Atlantic
The NHC said there are also two other systems in the Atlantic that forecasters are tracking.
The first one is currently a “trough of low pressure” that is producing disorganized showers and thunderstorms in the northwestern Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico.
The hurricane center said Tuesday morning environmental conditions could support some gradual development of this system and that a tropical depression could form in the next several days as the system moves northwestward over the northwestern Caribbean Sea and the southern Gulf of Mexico.
“Interests along the U.S. Gulf Coast should continue to monitor the progress of this system,” the NHC said Tuesday morning, giving the system a 40 percent chance of formation through the next seven days.
The second system, currently designated as Invest 91L, was located a few hundred miles south of the Cabo Verde Islands. The system is producing showers and thunderstorms that show “some signs of organization in association with a broad area of low pressure,” the NHC said Tuesday morning.
The hurricane center said environmental conditions appear conducive for further development of this system, and a tropical depression is “very likely” to form during the next few days while it moves slowly westward over the eastern tropical Atlantic.
The NHC says the system has a 60 percent chance of formation in the next 48 hours and a 90 percent chance through the next seven days.
Gabe Hauari is a national trending news reporter at USA TODAY. You can follow him on X @GabeHauari or email him at [email protected].
