The sixth named storm of the 2021 hurricane season could soon be declared as watchful forecasters are tracking a system in the Caribbean that’s set to ravage the region before making a beeline straight to the US mainland.
Current predictions released by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) indicate that the potential sixth-named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season could form over the next several hours as it makes its way through the northern Caribbean islands before bringing heavy rainfall and gusty winds to Florida.
Officials have emphasized that the system will more than likely turn into a tropical storm late on Tuesday. A forecast released by NOAA suggests that outerbands of the looming storm may bring rainfall to the Sunshine State by Friday before eventually towering over the state on Saturday.
The US hurricane agency currently places the system -presently named Potential Tropical Cyclone Six - about 105 miles south-east of Ponce, Puerto Rico, with maximum sustained winds reaching about 35 miles per hour.
Moving west-northwest at a pace of 17 miles per hour, the storm is forecasted to pass through the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico overnight Tuesday, and have reached the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands by Thursday.
“Gradual strengthening is forecast during the next day or so and the disturbance is expected to become a tropical storm tonight,” reads the agency’s latest advisory update. “Some weakening is likely while the system interacts with Hispaniola on Wednesday.”
Estimates provided by NOAA suggest as much as six inches of rainfall could fall across the region and create conditions for mudslides, flash floods and a rapid spike in water levels within waterways in the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.
The latest weather update comes after NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center issued a mid-season update on their 2021 hurricane season outlook. Although officials initially forecasted that 13 to 20 storms would be named, their recent update indicates that anywhere between 15 and 21 named storms could be documented. Of that tally, as many as 10 could be hurricanes and five could be major cyclones.