USA Today's latest storm news says the latest storm comes just after Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida last week, causing heavy rain and flooding across the Appalachians.
According to the latest storm information from the US National Hurricane Center, Hurricane Kirk formed about 1,700km west of the Cabo Verde Islands, with maximum sustained winds of about 120km/h, becoming a Category 1 hurricane.
Hurricane Kirk is forecast to continue moving west-northwest, then gradually turn northwest on October 2 and 3.
"Hurricane Kirk is forecast to strengthen over the next 48 hours and become a major hurricane by October 3," the US National Hurricane Center said in a news bulletin on the afternoon of October 1.
A major hurricane is a storm that is Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale.
Hurricane Kirk is the third hurricane to form since September 25, following Hurricanes Helene and Isaac, said Colorado State University hurricane forecaster Philip Klotzbach. And it is the first time since 1851 that three Atlantic hurricanes have formed between September 25 and October 1.
Current hurricane forecast models see the latest storm following Helene heading north into the mid-Atlantic, away from the United States.
In addition to strengthening Hurricane Kirk, the US National Hurricane Center is also monitoring two depressions, including one in the Caribbean Sea.
Forecasters are closely monitoring a low-pressure trough that is bringing showers and thunderstorms to the northwestern Caribbean Sea.
"A tropical depression could form over the next few days as the system moves northwest through the northwestern Caribbean Sea and southern Gulf of Mexico," the bulletin said.
According to AccuWeather's storm forecast, a tropical storm could form from this low pressure next week and could move across parts of the southeastern United States - which was heavily affected by Hurricane Helene.
Another depression, Invest 91L, is several hundred kilometers south of the Cape Verde Islands. With favorable environmental conditions, a tropical depression is expected to form over the next few days as Invest 91L slowly moves westward across the eastern part of the tropical Atlantic.
The latest storm and depression forecast from the US National Hurricane Center states that there is a 90% chance that Invest 91L will strengthen into a tropical depression in the next 48 hours and a 90% chance of upgrading in the next 7 days.
If this depression strengthens into a tropical storm it could be named Leslie.
Last week, Hurricane Helene devastated much of the southeastern United States after making landfall in Florida as a Category 4 storm. The storm moved northward, bringing heavy rain and flooding, with western North Carolina being particularly hard hit. More than 1 million people were still without power as of the afternoon of October 1 due to Helene.
With the death toll rising to at least 162 across six US states, Hurricane Helene is the second deadliest storm to hit the US mainland in 50 years. The deadliest storm - Hurricane Katrina in 2005 - claimed at least 1,833 lives.
