Storm tracker: Kirk may become major hurricane as other systems brew

Editor's Note: This story was published Tuesday morning. Click here to track the latest developments with Hurricane Kirk.

The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season continues to be active as the calendar flips to October, which is traditionally Florida's busiest month for hurricanes.

Although the only named storm out there is distant (and strengthening) Hurricane Kirk, the National Hurricane Center is also monitoring two other tropical disturbances, including one in the Caribbean Sea.

And it's that developing system that most concerns folks in the U.S., as it could become a named storm in the Gulf of Mexico by next week, forecasters said.

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The storm activity comes on the heels of the deadly and devastating Hurricane Helene, which made landfall last week in Florida and dumped heavy, flooding rains across the Appalachians. More than 1 million were still without power Tuesday afternoon.

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Tracking Hurricane Kirk

The hurricane center said Tuesday afternoon that Hurricane Kirk had formed about 1,070 miles west of the Cabo Verde Islands and had maximum sustained winds around 75 mph, making it a Category 1 storm. The system is forecast to continue moving to the west-northwest through Tuesday night before gradually turning toward the northwest on Wednesday and Thursday.

"Additional strengthening is forecast during the next 48 hours and Kirk is expected to become a major hurricane by Thursday," the NHC said Tuesday afternoon. A major hurricane is a Category 3 or above on the Saffir-Simpson Scale of Hurricane Intensity.

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 tracking system in the Caribbean

Hurricane forecasters are also keeping a close eye on a trough of low pressure that is producing disorganized showers and thunderstorms in the northwestern Caribbean Sea.

The hurricane center said Tuesday morning environmental conditions could support some gradual development of this system. "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," the center said in a Tuesday morning forecast.

Over the next week, one to two tropical storms could be born from the system and possibly steered across part of the southeastern United States that was hit hard by Hurricane Helene, AccuWeather said.

"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.

Hello Leslie?

Another system, currently designated as Invest 91L, was located a few hundred miles south of the Cabo Verde Islands Tuesday. 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 expected to form during the next couple of days while it moves slowly westward over the eastern tropical Atlantic.

The NHC says the system has an 90 percent chance of formation in the next 48 hours and a 90 percent chance through the next seven days.

If it becomes a tropical storm, it would likely get the name Leslie.

(This story has been updated to add new information.)

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

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Storm tracker: Hurricane Kirk could become major hurricane