The latest 7-day tropical outlook shows Hurricane Kirk as a major hurricane out in the central Atlantic and Tropical Storm Leslie, which formed today and is also expected to reach major status in a few days. Kirk is expected to turn north and then northeast in quick order and could threaten Europe in a few days. TS Leslie is a little further south so its path will not be quite the same as Kirk’s. It is expected to come a little farther west and so we can’t completely rule Leslie out as something that might affect us in the Southeast, but it is very unlikely and Leslie will most likely turn north and then NE well away from land. The area of potential development in the Gulf of Mexico has increased back to a 40% chance of development in the next week, but the long-range ensemble forecasts show that it is very likely to move west over the Florida Peninsula, not affecting the rest of the Southeast except for a few showers along the Gulf Coast.
