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.
As of the latest advisory, Kirk is a category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds near 125 miles per hour. It is expected to continue strengthening over the next couple of days.
The storm is big, with hurricane-force winds extending outward up to 35 miles and tropical-storm-force winds extend up to 220 miles.
Kirk is not a threat to any land mass, so Florida won't be impacted by the storm.
The area we've been watching near Africa is now Tropical Storm Leslie. The system is currently experiencing wind shear from larger Hurricane Kirk to it's northwest so initially, it will be slow to strengthen.
Once it gets some space from Kirk, Leslie is forecast to become a hurricane by this weekend.
Like Kirk, models show this system recurving into the Atlantic before it impacts any land areas.
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 30%, 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.