The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) is monitoring three systems in the Atlantic, including a major hurricane that continues to strengthen.
Hurricane Kirk is currently a Category 4 storm on the 5-level Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale and is expected to strengthen further into a super typhoon, according to the NHC's latest hurricane forecast on October 3.
While Kirk is expected to remain over open ocean, large waves from the storm are forecast to hit the east coast of the US and the Bahamas on October 6, with life-threatening storm surges and dangerous rip currents.
Kirk is forecast to become the third major hurricane since September 25 - after Hurricanes Helene and Isaac. This is the first time in history (since 1851) that the Atlantic has had three major hurricanes in a little over a week - said Dr. Philip Klotzbach, a meteorologist at Colorado State University who specializes in Atlantic hurricane forecasting.
On October 3, President Joe Biden landed at Tallahassee International Airport on his way to Perry, Florida to see firsthand the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene.
Also in the Atlantic basin — which includes the North Atlantic, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico — the NHC is monitoring Tropical Storm Leslie and a potential low-pressure system in the Caribbean moving into the Gulf.
The next named storms of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season will be Milton and Nadine.
No storms are currently expected to make landfall, but a large area of low pressure is expected to form over the Gulf of Mexico later this week or early next week.
Environmental conditions currently limit the potential for a tropical system to form, but regardless of development, locally heavy rain is possible across parts of the Florida Peninsula next week, according to the NHC.
The US National Hurricane Center said that at 5:00 p.m. on October 3 (local time), the center of Hurricane Kirk was located near 21.1 degrees north latitude, 46.7 degrees west longitude, 1,740 km east-northeast of the Northern Leeward Islands; 2,663 km southwest of the Azores.
Maximum winds near the center of the storm were 130 mph (209 km/h). The storm was moving northwest at 12 mph (19 km/h), and was expected to turn north and north-northeast at a faster pace over the weekend.
Kirk is a Category 4 storm but is expected to continue to strengthen over the next 24 hours. Tropical storm force winds extend up to 300km from the center of the storm.
Also at 5:00 p.m. on October 3, the center of tropical storm Leslie was located near 10.1 degrees north latitude, 31.5 degrees west longitude, 933 km west southwest of the southernmost Cape Verde Islands.
Maximum winds near the center of the storm are 80 km/h, moving west at 10 km/h. The storm is forecast to gradually strengthen over the next 48 hours.
Meanwhile, a large low-pressure area is likely to form over the Gulf of Mexico later this week or early next week.
