Second Atlantic Hurricane of Season Expected to Form Soon

NU Online News Service, Aug. 30, 3:02 p.m. EDT

Tropical Storm Katia is expected to become the Atlantic season's second hurricane over the next 36 hours, but it is not yet known what impact, if any, the storm will eventually have on the U.S. East Coast.

The storm is currently about 630 miles west-southwest of the southernmost Cape Verde Islands, which are located about 300 miles off the west coast of Africa. According to the National Hurricane Center (NHC), unfavorable conditions for development have decreased, and the storm has become better organized.

The NHC says Katia should continue to strengthen and could become a major hurricane by Sunday. 

For now, the storm is expected to turn to the northwest after this weekend as it reaches the western Atlantic, the NHC forecast says.

In an Accuweather report, Senior Meteorologist Bob Smerbeck says, “Any system that moves north of the Bahamas should get picked up and sent out to sea as a continuous stream of upper-level troughs move through the northern part of the U.S. in the coming weeks.”

Accuweather says it is possible that the storm could bring “some impacts” to the East Coast later next week, and Smerbeck adds, “If one of these upper troughs or dips in the jet stream digs further into the Midwest, then that could favor a more westerly track for Katia bringing it closer to the East Coast.”