John McCarthy
MIAMI (Reuters) — Tropical Storm Franklin over the eastern Caribbean and a disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico are expected to strengthen over the next two days as U.S. forecasters monitor three other weather systems in the Atlantic.
Franklin, with sustained winds of 50 mph (85 kph), should approach the southern coast of Hispaniola island today, bringing heavy rain to parts of it and neighboring Puerto Rico through the middle of the week.
Franklin is also expected to bring storm conditions to parts of the Dominican Republic and Haiti on today.
Ahead of it lies a trough of low pressure, which has an 80 percent chance of becoming a tropical depression or storm as it approaches the western Gulf of Mexico coast today, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.
Short-lived Tropical Storm Gert, with sustained winds of 40 mph (65 kph), is quickly unraveling and should dissipate on Tuesday, the NHC said in its latest advisory.
Next in line is Tropical Storm Emily in the central Atlantic, which could become a post-tropical cyclone by Monday evening, the Miami-based forecaster said.
Meanwhile, a tropical disturbance near the Cape Verde Islands has a 40 percent chance of becoming a cyclone over the next two days and a tropical depression is likely to form later this week.
While the Atlantic has seen relatively mild activity this year, on the U.S. West Coast, the Tropical Storm Hilary unleashed furious flash floods to the east and west of Los Angeles on Sunday after barreling through Mexico’s Baja California peninsula with deadly force.
Earlier this month, U.S. forecasters said they expect a more dangerous Atlantic storm season than previously projected, forecasting 14-21 named storms, with 6-11 potentially becoming hurricanes with winds of 74 miles per hour (119 kmh) or greater.
Reporting by Swati Verma in Bengaluru; additional reporting by Anjana Anil; editing by Robert Birsel
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