Hurricane center tracks 2 systems in Atlantic with chance to develop

ORLANDO, Fla. — The National Hurricane Center is now tracking two Atlantic systems with a chance to develop into the season’s next tropical depression or storm.

As of the NHC’s 2 p.m. tropical outlook Wednesday, the bigger threat to Florida remained what has become a tropical wave that has formed in the central tropical Atlantic.

“Some slow development of this system is possible this weekend into early next week while it moves westward to west-northwestward at 10 to 15 mph,” forecasters said.

Its long-term forecast has the weather system potentially passing over the Caribbean’s Leeward Islands.

The NHC also began tracking an area of low pressure in the western Atlantic early Wednesday located a few hundred miles southeast of Bermuda that was producing a small area of disorganized shower and thunderstorm activity.

“Dry air and strong upper-level winds are expected to prevent development of this system while the low moves generally north-northeastward at about 10 mph during the next day or so,” forecasters said.

The NHC had earlier Wednesday given it just a 10% chance to develop, but by the afternoon had dropped those chances to 0%.

The next named storm for the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season would be Tropical Storm Francine.

The tropics had been quiet for a couple of weeks since Hurricane Ernesto carved a path over the Caribbean and up over Bermuda earlier in August.

While the official hurricane season runs from June 1-Nov. 30, the height of hurricane season runs from mid-August into October. So far the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season has produced five named storms, three of which formed into hurricanes, and one of which became a major hurricane.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s upgraded forecast issued earlier this month calls for 17-24 named storms, of which 8-13 could become hurricanes, with 4-7 that could develop into major hurricanes of Category 3 strength or higher.

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