Tropical trouble: Storms head for Florida, North Carolina, Hawaii
The triple tropical storm threat converging on the USA just days before Labor Day may be the first of its kind.
Three separate tropical systems are menacing western Florida, the Outer Banks and Hawaii this week. Two are tropical depressions near the East and Gulf Coasts, while the third is a major hurricane approaching Hawaii.
All the systems are likely to bring drenching rain, high winds and churning seas in varying degrees of intensity right before one of the busiest travel weekends of the year.
"We cannot recall a case where three tropical cyclones were directly impacting the U.S. at the same time," National Hurricane Center spokesman Dennis Feltgen said.
While this level of activity is extreme, it's not unusual for late August, which typically marks the start of the busiest part of hurricane season, with storm events remaining high through early October.
This year, government forecasters predicted a near-normal season with 10 to 16 tropical storms, of which four to eight would be hurricanes. So far, seven named storms have formed in the Atlantic this year. The season officially ends in late November.
The two tropical depressions off the East and Gulf coasts this week could become the 8th and 9th named storms of the season in the next two days. They will reach that status — and earn an official name — when their wind speeds reach 39 mph. Whichever depression reaches the wind threshold first will be dubbed Hermine, while the other will be called Ian. Tropical storms become hurricanes when wind speeds reach 74 mph.
Late Tuesday, a hurricane watch was issued for the Florida Gulf coast from the Anclote River to Indian Pass.
Thousands of miles away, in the central Pacific Ocean, Hurricane Madeline churned toward the Big Island on Tuesday with winds of 120 mph. It is forecast to impact the island by early Thursday. Hurricane Lester, yet another storm, spun far out in the eastern Pacific Ocean with winds of 120 mph, and could eventually impact portions of Hawaii by the Labor Day weekend.
Storms in the Pacific Ocean are counted and named differently than those in the Atlantic. The Pacific season, which begins in mid-May and ends in late November, has been close to average so far this year.
Back in the Atlantic, the strongest storm remains Hurricane Gaston, with winds of 110 mph. It remains far out to sea, spinning hundreds of miles east of Bermuda. While expected to weaken later this week, Gaston could impact the Azores by the weekend, possibly as a tropical storm.
As if that isn't enough, yet another tropical wave emerged off the African coast near the Cape Verde Islands on Tuesday. The system will trek west across the Atlantic Ocean over the next several days. The hurricane center gave the system a 40% chance of developing into a depression or storm within the next five days.
North Carolina's Outer Banks and Florida
A tropical storm warning remains in effect for North Carolina's Outer Banks as Tropical Depression 8 spins near the coast. As of 5 p.m. EDT, the storm was located about 60 miles south-southeast of Cape Hatteras, N.C., with winds of 35 mph. It is moving toward the north-northeast at 5 mph and was expected to develop into a tropical storm late Tuesday or early Wednesday.
The center of the storm is expected to near the Outer Banks overnight Tuesday and into Wednesday, bringing drenching showers, thunderstorms and rough surf that will threaten the Carolina coast over the next day or so.
Tropical Depression 9, meanwhile, was located about 345 miles west of Key West, Fla., with winds of 35 mph as of 5 p.m. ET Tuesday. It was moving to the northwest at 7 mph. It's also forecast to become a tropical storm later Tuesday and make landfall along the west coast of Florida on Thursday.
The main threat from the storm will be the heavy, drenching rains it will funnel across much of the central and southern parts of the state throughout the week, bringing the potential for flash flooding. Total rainfall amounts of 5 to 10 inches are possible over much of the Florida peninsula through Friday morning, with isolated maximum amounts of 15 inches possible.
That same system could then emerge back into the Atlantic off the Florida coast by Friday, potentially remaining a threat to the East Coast through the Labor Day weekend.
Hawaii
Based on the current track, Hurricane Madeline is likely to bring strong, damaging winds and very heavy rainfall across the Big Island, where a hurricane watch has been issued ahead of the storm's expected impact Thursday. Large and damaging surf is also expected along east facing shores of the Big Island as well.
A hurricane warning was issued for the Big Island.
As of Tuesday, the storm had winds of 120 mph and was located about 415 miles east of Hilo, Hawaii.
Not too terribly far behind, Hurricane Lester could eventually impact portions of Hawaii by the Labor Day weekend.