TAMPA, Fla. — As Florida and the Tampa Bay area continue to recover in Hurricane Helene's wake, we're keeping an eye on what's going on in the tropics. It looks pretty busy, but there is some good news — there's no threat to Florida or the U.S. right now.
Let's take a look at what's going on in the Atlantic, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico.
Hurricane Kirk formed Tuesday, becoming the seventh hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season. As of the latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center, Kirk is continuing to get stronger and larger. By Thursday, Kirk is expected to reach major hurricane status — Category 3 or higher. Right now, it's sitting as a Category 1 storm with 80 mph winds.
The storm is big, with hurricane-force winds extending outward up to 30 miles and tropical-storm-force winds extend up to 195 miles.
Kirk is not a threat to any land mass, so Florida won't be impacted by the storm.
Invest 91L is sitting in the eastern tropical Atlantic and trying to become the next named system, Leslie. Currently, the low-pressure area, located a few hundred miles from the Cabo Verde Islands, has a high chance of becoming a tropical depression or tropical storm over the next 48 hours. It is also not a threat to land or Florida at this time.
Finally, we're keeping a close eye on possible development in the Caribbean and Gulf. It's the same region where Helene formed.
An area of low pressure is having a hard time getting organized, which is a good thing for us. The area of showers and thunderstorms has a medium chance, about 40%, of gradually developing and becoming a tropical depression. The earliest forecasted development wouldn't happen until this weekend when the area moves into the Gulf of Mexico.
Our 10 Tampa Bay Weather team will continue to monitor any development and keep you informed, prepared and connected through the rest of hurricane season.