As Hurricane Kirk gained strength and formed Tropical Depression 13 on Wednesday, but posed no threat of landfall in the Atlantic, the National Hurricane Center was tracking the system, which could develop in the Gulf of Mexico and turn toward Florida.

At the time of the center’s tropical outlook at 8 a.m., the system, which could mean at least heavy rains for Florida next week, was for now a broad low-pressure area with a large area of ​​disorganized showers and thunderstorms extending from the southwestern Caribbean Sea to the southern Gulf of Mexico.

“Environmental conditions could support gradual development of this system, and a tropical depression could form over the weekend as the broader disturbance fully encroaches on the Gulf of Mexico,” forecasters said. “Stakeholders along the U.S. Gulf Coast should continue to monitor the progress of this system.”

The center gives him a 40 percent chance of development in the next seven days.

The National Weather Service expects some impacts in Florida early next week.

Meanwhile, in the Atlantic, a low pressure area developed into Tropical Depression 13, a few hundred miles south-southwest of the Cape Verde Islands, with more organized showers and thunderstorms.

At 11 a.m., the center of TD 13 was 430 miles southwest of the southernmost Cape Verde Islands and moving west at 7 miles per hour, with maximum sustained winds of 35 miles per hour.

“A general westward movement is expected over the next day or so, followed by a more west-northwestward turn by the weekend,” forecasters said. “Gradual strengthening is forecast and the depression could become a tropical storm by this evening.”

If it does, it will become Tropical Storm Leslie.

Hurricane Kirk is already raging in the Atlantic.

At the time of the hurricane center’s 5 a.m. bulletin, Kirk was about 1,200 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands and 1,280 miles east of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean and moving northwest at a speed of 14 mph with sustained winds of 80 mph hour, making it a Category 1 hurricane.

Hurricane-force winds extend a distance of 30 miles and tropical-force winds extend a distance of 195 miles from its center.

“Additional strengthening is forecast over the next few days and Kirk is expected to become a major hurricane by Thursday,” forecasters said.

If this is the case, it would be the third major hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, after Beryl and Helene.

The season, which runs from June 1 to November 30, has so far produced 12 official storms, including six hurricanes, four tropical storms and one tropical depression, as well as one potential tropical cyclone that did not form before landfall.

After Leslie, Milton is the next name on the list.

• • •

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