Next tropical threat looms in Caribbean Sea as last month of hurricane season approaches
TAMPA, Fla. - The Atlantic Basin's next tropical threat continues to be tracked by the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in the southern Caribbean Sea.
The odds of development over the next week remain in the medium range, but the FOX Forecast Center believes those odds could increase further as the final month of the Atlantic hurricane season approaches.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN FINAL WEEKS OF 2024 ATLANTIC HURRICANE SEASON
A broad area of low pressure is expected to develop over the southwestern Caribbean Sea around the middle of this week. That would coincide with the return of the Central American Gyre, which had a hand in creating hurricanes Helene and Milton, and more recently, Tropical Storm Nadine.
The outlook for an area to watch in the southern Caribbean Sea. (FOX Weather)
"Gradual development is possible thereafter, and a tropical depression could form late this week or over the weekend while the system begins to drift northward or northeastward toward the central Caribbean Sea," the NHC wrote in its latest outlook.
The next storm to receive a name in the Atlantic Basin – which includes the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico – will be called Patty.
WHAT IS THE CENTRAL AMERICAN GYRE?
Will the potential Caribbean tropical system impact the US?
Most of the time, these storms aren’t a threat to the U.S., but occasionally, a late-season tropical system can come out of the Caribbean and impact Florida or provide a glancing blow to the Eastern Seaboard.
"There is no indication that the system would threaten the mainland U.S.," FOX Weather Hurricane Specialist Bryan Norcross said. "Hostile upper winds are forecast to continue to blow over the Gulf of Mexico and Florida."
However, Norcross said there's a chance this system could eventually track in the direction of the Dominican Republic, Haiti or Puerto Rico, though it's also possible it would simply meander around the Caribbean Sea and not directly impact those islands.
2024 Atlantic Hurricane Season Names
What else is happening in the Atlantic tropics?
Elsewhere across the Atlantic Basin, the tropics are expected to remain quiet as we enter the final days of October and approach the start of November.
Nov. 30 will mark the final day of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season.
The tropical weather outlook for the Atlantic Basin. (FOX Weather)
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