Hurricane forecasters were monitoring three systems in the Atlantic Ocean as Helen plowed into Florida and dumped rain on the Southeast.
One of these is the path that new hurricanes take to reach the ocean. Hurricane Isaac formed Friday morning about 1,000 miles from Bermuda, according to the National Hurricane Center.
This is the sixth hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, but probably the least worrying for people in the United States.
Saturday News: Live updates on Helen’s death, damage
Meanwhile, forecasters are also keeping an eye on the Caribbean, where yet another system appears to be forming in a similar location to where Hurricane Helen formed. Here’s what you need to know:
Tropical Storm Joyce also formed on Friday.
Elsewhere, forecasters were tracking newly formed Tropical Storm Joyce in the mid-Atlantic, about 1,325 miles east of the Northern Leeward Islands in the Caribbean Sea. Joyce is moving northwest at around 13 mph, and this general movement is expected to continue through Sunday, gradually slowing its progress, the hurricane center said. The forecast is for the weather to gradually turn north on Monday.
Maximum sustained wind speeds will be near 40 mph, with high gusts. It is expected to gradually strengthen until Saturday, then gradually weaken until early next week.
As of Friday morning, Joyce did not pose a threat to any land area.
Caribbean brewed in a familiar place
Finally, ominously, forecasters also turned their attention to the Caribbean Sea. There, yet another system appears to be brewing in a similar location to where Hurricane Helen occurred. “Environmental conditions are expected to lead to delayed development, but the system is likely to continue moving generally northwest and into the Gulf of Mexico by the end of next week,” the hurricane center said.
If the system strengthens into a named storm, it will likely be called Tropical Storm Kirk.
hurricane season background
A total of 10 named storms have formed in the Atlantic Ocean so far this season, according to the Hurricane Center. Of those 10 storms, six have strengthened into hurricanes, including the newly formed Hurricane Isaac far out in the Atlantic Ocean.
This means that the season is moving at a roughly average pace for named storms, making for a very active and possibly record-breaking season, with as many as 30 possible storms forming. Very different from previous predictions.
In a typical year, there are 14 named storms, seven of which are hurricanes, according to Colorado State University.
record breaking helen
Helen itself was a record-breaking storm, the strongest storm ever to make landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region. It was also the fourth hurricane to make landfall on the U.S. Gulf Coast in 2024 (joining Beryl, Debbie, and Francine).
Colorado State Meteorologist Phil Klotzbach said the only other years on record to have so many Gulf hurricanes made landfall were in 1886, 1909, 1985, 2005 and 2020.
It was also the ninth strongest hurricane to make landfall in Florida since 1900, based on barometric pressure.