Florida To ‘Bear the Brunt’ Of Impacts From Incoming Storm

Florida will likely “bear the brunt” of an incoming storm next week, whether that system remains a tropical rainstorm or strengthens into a hurricane.
The Atlantic hurricane season has rapidly ramped up over the past month, with Hurricane Helene making landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region September 26 as a Category 4 hurricane.
Helene’s wrath caused devastation across several states, including catastrophic flooding in North Carolina. The punishing storm’s death toll hit 200 at the time of publication, according to the Associated Press, although there are concerns that the death toll is much higher than officially reported.
Meteorologists have recently turned their attention toward a disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico, which has a 40 percent chance of strengthening into a tropical storm within seven days, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC) forecast.
In the Pacific, a storm called Tropical Depression Eleven-E recently impacted Mexico, and remnants from that are expected to merge with the disturbance in the Gulf after passing through Mexico.
Florida will likely experience impacts related to the combined storm sometime next week, AccuWeather reported.
“While the exact track and intensity of the feature unfolding in the gulf have yet to be determined, Florida will bear the brunt this time around,” AccuWeather Chief On-Air Meteorologist Bernie Rayno said in the AccuWeather report. “At this time, the intensity will range from a sprawling tropical rainstorm to perhaps a strike from a more compact, full-blown hurricane.”
Newsweek reached out to AccuWeather by email for comment.
Regardless of if a hurricane develops, Florida is expecting heavy rainfall this weekend and next week associated with the disturbance. The rain could hinder Hurricane Helene relief efforts, primarily in the Tampa Bay area.
AccuWeather included a map of Florida impacts with the report. According to the map, the southwestern part of Florida will experience the greatest threat from the incoming storm, particularly in the Cape Coral area.
That region could see 8 to 12 inches of rain. Risks for widespread amounts of 2 to 8 inches of rain persist for much of the rest of the Florida Peninsula. AccuWeather meteorologists warned that flooding from the heavy rain could inundate roads in Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Naples, Miami, Tampa, Orlando and Fort Lauderdale.
Meanwhile, Hurricane Kirk and Tropical Storm Leslie have also formed, brewing in the Atlantic Ocean southeast of the U.S. The pair, which are expected to continue strengthening, are expected to remain out at sea, although meteorologists are growing concerned that Kirk, currently a Category 4 hurricane with winds of 145 mph, could impact Europe.
Kirk and Leslie will both bring indirect impacts to the U.S. by causing swells and rip currents along the East Coast. Warnings will likely be in place for East Coast areas affected by the dangerous waters this weekend.