Tropical Storm Gordon forms in Atlantic, hurricane forecasters eye track
Tropical Storm Gordon, the seventh named storm of what's predicted to be an extremely active 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, was on the move far out over open waters Saturday, where it's expected to continue for a few days without posing a threat to land.
As of Saturday morning, the storm was about 2,300 miles from the U.S. East Coast and is moving to the west-northwest at 9 mph.
The official forecast track from the National Hurricane Center shows Gordon slowly meandering west across the open Atlantic for the next few days, potentially even weakening to a tropical depression.
Beyond that, most computer models show the system curving out to sea away from North America.
Meanwhile, Francine, which made landfall Wednesday along the Louisiana coast as a Category 2 hurricane, weakened to a post-tropical cyclone.
"The risk of flash and urban flooding will continue across portions of the Tennessee Valley and Southeast through Saturday," the NHC said in a Friday night advisory.
Where is Tropical Storm Gordon?
At 5 a.m. EDT Saturday, the center of Tropical Storm Gordon was located about 1,145 miles west-northwest of the Cabo Verde Islands. Maximum sustained winds were about 45 mph.
The storm is moving toward the west-northwest at 9 mph. A slow turn toward the west, southwest is forecast over the next couple days, with the system slowing down through the weekend.
The Hurricane Center said it could downgrade to a depression over the next day.
Gordon is the seventh named storm of the season
Gordon is the seventh named storm of the season. If it becomes a hurricane, which is not predicted, it would be the fifth hurricane of the season, joining Beryl, Debby, Ernesto and Francine.
It's also only the second named storm to form since Aug. 12. The last time that the Atlantic had only one named storm formation between Aug. 13 and Sept. 12 was 1997, according to Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach.
A typical year sees 14 named storms, of which 7 spin into hurricanes; some predictions for this year were calling for as many as 33 named storms.
Tropical Storm Gordon spaghetti models
Special note about spaghetti models: Spaghetti model illustrations include an array of forecast tools and models, and not all are created equal. The National Hurricane Center uses only the top four or five highest performing models to help make its forecasts.
Forecasters watch other systems
In addition to Gordon, forecasters were also watching an area of disturbed weather closer to home, just off the U.S. Southeast coast, for potential tropical or subtropical development early next week.
"In a few days, a non-tropical area of low pressure could form along a residual frontal boundary a few hundred miles off the southeastern U.S. coastline," the National Hurricane Center said in an online forecast released Friday.
"Thereafter, some subtropical or tropical development is possible during the early part of next week while the system drifts to the north or northwest," the hurricane center said.
If it gets a name, it would be called Helene.
The disturbance could make landfall and stall over land for days, AccuWeather forecasters said. Rough surf and rip currents could impact from northeastern Florida to the Delmarva Peninsula next week.
The system has a 30% chance of formation over the next 48 hours and a 50% chance over the next week.
One other disturbance is also spinning out in the open Atlantic, but only has a near 0% chance for development, the hurricane center said Friday.
Contributing: Kim Luciani and Cheryl McCloud, USA TODAY NETWORK - Florida
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tropical Storm Gordon forms: What path will it take?
