Will there be another storm in Atlantic next week?
The National Hurricane Center continued to track a busy tropical Atlantic Ocean on Saturday.
There was Idalia, which was a non-tropical system but was bringing tropical storm conditions and sustained 60 mph winds to Bermuda as of Saturday morning.
Gusty winds and heavy rain have been reported on the island, which is under a tropical storm warning.
Here is the forecast track for Idalia, which is expected to move over warmer water and become a subtropical storm later today:
Idalia could become a subtropical storm today.
There were two fewer named storms to deal with, however.
Long-lived Hurricane Franklin, which had been a hurricane since Aug. 26 and brushed by Bermuda on Wednesday, was ruled a post-tropical storm on Friday, and the hurricane center issued its last advisory on it. Franklin was the strongest storm of the season so far, peaking with 150 mph winds (strong Category 4) on Aug. 28.
Also missing from the board on Saturday is Tropical Storm Jose, which was “absorbed” by Franklin on Friday after Franklin became a post-tropical storm. Jose never affected land.
Forecasters on Saturday were tracking what they called the “resilient” Tropical Storm Gert, which isn’t expected to affect land, and the newest entry, Tropical Storm Katia, which was in the eastern Atlantic and also not expected to affect land.
Here is the forecast track for Gert:
![Tropical Storm Gert track](https://mentonealabama.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/will-there-be-another-storm-in-atlantic-next-week-1.jpg)
Gert is no threat to land.
And here’s the track for Katia:
![Tropical Storm Katia track](https://mentonealabama.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/will-there-be-another-storm-in-atlantic-next-week-2.jpg)
Katia isn’t expected to hang around long.
The area to watch for development next is in the eastern Atlantic.
The hurricane center was tracking a tropical wave that could become the next tropical depression. The forecast track takes is in the direction of the Caribbean next week, so it will be one to keep an eye on.
It’s too soon to say how strong it will be, or where it will go.
The next name on the 2023 Atlantic storm list, by the way, is Lee.
The Atlantic hurricane season is near its climatological peak, Sept. 10. The last day of the season will be Nov. 30.