Karl forecast to become hurricane later in week; system off Africa forming

Tropical Storm Karl was churning in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean as another disturbance was forming west of Africa. Satellite image courtesy of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

MIAMI, Sept. 19 (UPI) — As Tropical Storm Karl was forecast to become a hurricane later in the week, another low-pressure system just off Africa was developing and is predicted to turn into a tropical depression by Tuesday, the National Hurricane Center said Monday.

Although Karl is strengthening as it heads west, it’s not a threat to reach land in the next five days, the center said.

Karl was 895 miles east of the Leeward Islands, moving at 13 mph with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph, just 2 mph from being downgraded to a depression.

Some slight strengthening is forecast during the next 48 hours but it should intensify in the next three to five days when it is forecast to become a hurricane, the center wrote in a forecast. When winds reach 74 mph, it becomes a hurricane.

Farther west, a tropical disturbance called Invest 96L has a 90 percent chance of becoming a depression within the next 48 hours, the center said.

It is several hundred miles southeast of the Cabo Verde Islands, and occasional heavy rains and gusty winds associated with the system should diminish later in the day.

Tropical Depression Julia dissipated late Sunday, according to the hurricane center, as it became a post-tropical storm. But it was expected to dump rain on the Carolinas through Tuesday and then travel to Virginia through Wednesday and up the coast, according to AccuWeather.

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