Tropical depression becomes severe Hurricane Kirk

A storm over the Atlantic Ocean, currently called Tropical Depression Twelve, is expected to strengthen into a major hurricane by the end of the week, which will be named Kirk once it reaches tropical storm strength.

The tropical depression is currently on the verge of strengthening into a tropical storm.

The storm system is moving westward across the Central Atlantic and is currently expected to head toward the East Coast of the United States.

“Maximum sustained winds are around 35 mph (55 km/h) with higher gusts. Steady strengthening is forecast and the low pressure area will likely become a hurricane by Tuesday night or Wednesday,” the National Hurricane Center said in a public statement Monday morning.

Tropical Depression Twelve originated from a depression in the eastern tropical Atlantic west of Cabo Verde and strengthened into a depression as it moved westward. The depression is expected to develop into a tropical storm shortly and then strengthen into a hurricane within a few days.

“In the path of the low pressure system, conditions are quite favorable with 29 degrees Celsius (84.2 F) sea surface temperatures, a humid environment and weak vertical wind shear. Given the weak shear and gradually improving structure, the cyclone should begin to develop steadily. “The depression is expected to develop into a hurricane in 36 to 48 hours and into a major hurricane in about 4 days,” the NHC said in a statement Prognosis discussion.

A tropical storm becomes a hurricane when certain key environmental conditions contribute to its intensification, including warm ocean temperatures, moist air, and low wind shear (the difference in wind speed and direction at different altitudes). Strong wind shear can disrupt a storm's structure and prevent it from organizing.

“Tropical depressions are the weakest class of tropical cyclones with maximum sustained winds below 39 miles per hour and typically feature disorganized thunderstorms. Tropical storms have maximum sustained winds between 39 and 73 miles per hour and feature greater organization of thunderstorms into rainbands that begin to merge around a forming eye,” said Brian Tang, associate professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of California Albany, New York Newsweek.

While Twelve – which will be named Kirk once it reaches tropical storm strength – is heading toward the U.S., forecasters can't say exactly where, if at all, it will make landfall.

According to the Associated Press, the storm came after Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc across the southeastern United States, killing nearly 100 people. After Helene, the other two named storms were Tropical Storm Isaac, a former hurricane moving east across the Atlantic toward the British Isles, and Tropical Storm Joyce, which has now weakened back into a tropical depression.

Helene was a Category 4 hurricane when it made landfall in the Big Bend region of Florida on September 26, bringing powerful winds of 140 miles per hour and extreme storm surge to coastal communities. The hurricane then moved inland across Georgia and Tennessee, bringing large amounts of rain and causing catastrophic flash flooding across North Carolina. In a single county in North Carolina, flooding killed more than 30 people and hundreds more are missing.

“This is the worst natural disaster any of us have ever seen,” Ryan Cole, an emergency official in Buncombe County, told local news station ABC11.

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