The National Hurricane Center (NHC) is tracking two more storms that are intensifying in the Atlantic Ocean following Hurricane Helene, weather officials said.
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Multiple advisories have been put out for Hurricane Kirk and Tropical Storm Leslie, with NHC experts saying that Kirk is “strengthening” over the Central Atlantic and that “large swells” could reach the east coast of the United States by Sunday:
Kirk, designated as a Category 3 hurricane, has had sustained wind speeds of up to 125 mph. It was originally forecast to make landfall in the United States, but “has since veered to the north and then the northeast, and is heading back across the Atlantic in the direction of Ireland and the U.K.,” according to Newsweek.
While it is no longer expected to touch down in the United States, NHC officials warned that swells generated by the storm are expected to “cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions” off the Caribbean Islands and the United States east coast.
Leslie, a smaller storm that formed in Kirk’s wake with maximum sustained wind speeds of 45 mph, may also strengthen into a hurricane as the distance between the pair grows bigger as they move, due to a decrease in wind shear.
NHC officials warned Thursday that Leslie has gotten “a little stronger”: