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topicnews · September 30, 2024

Tropical Storm Kirk, 4 other systems monitored

Tropical Storm Kirk, 4 other systems monitored

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Although National Hurricane Center forecasters are tracking five separate systems in the Atlantic Ocean, including newly formed Tropical Storm Kirk, only one is of real concern for the United States and the storm-ravaged Southeast.

The hurricane center most likely to hit the United States is in the Caribbean Sea, the hurricane center said Monday. A “major low pressure area” in the ocean is producing disorganized showers and thunderstorms, and environmental conditions appear to be conducive to the gradual development of the system.

The center said: “In a few days, a tropical depression could form while the system is over the southern Gulf of Mexico or the northwestern Caribbean Sea.”

The system will develop more slowly than anticipated: “While interests in the northwest Caribbean Sea and along the U.S. Gulf Coast should continue to monitor the progress of this system, the timeline for possible development later has shifted toward the end of the week or this weekend. “,” the center said in a consultation Monday morning.

The center says there is a 40% chance of the system forming within the next seven days.

AccuWeather meteorologists said Monday that the greatest risk for significant and potentially excessive rainfall from the system may be across Florida, but that may change as the system develops.

Atlantic Storm Tracker

Tropical Depression Joyce and Tropical Storm Isaac continue to weaken

Tropical depression Joyce is expected to weaken further over the next 48 hours, the hurricane center said on Monday. It is likely to become a post-tropical remnant low later Monday and dissipate by Wednesday.

Tropical Storm Isaac was located about 515 miles north-northwest of the Azores on Monday morning and is expected to turn northwest at a similar forward speed on Tuesday, the center said.

“A slow weakening is expected over the next few days,” the center said Monday morning. Isaac is expected to become a post-tropical cyclone later Monday.

Kirk expected it to become a “large and strong” hurricane later this week

The latest storm tracked by the hurricane center is Tropical Storm Kirk, which formed in the eastern Atlantic on Monday morning.

The hurricane center said Monday morning that a “general west-to-west-northwest movement” was expected to continue through Tuesday and a gradual turn toward the northwest was forecast through Wednesday.

The system has maximum sustained winds of about 45 mph, with stronger gusts, and “steady strengthening is forecast,” according to the center. The storm is expected to develop into a hurricane on Tuesday or Wednesday night.

Current forecast models show the system curving north into the mid-Atlantic, far from the United States

Gabe Hauari is a nationally featured news reporter at USA TODAY. You can follow him on X @GabeHauari or email him at [email protected].