The Tropics/Hurricanes Are Now Exciting In Atlantic Ocean, But Thankfully Staying Away

 I've always been impressed by the beauty of satellite photos of strong hurricanes.

Hurricane Kirk way out in the Atlantic Ocean this morning.
Satellite views of strong hurricanes are beautiful, as 
long as said hurricanes are not threatening lives and property.

Don't get me wrong. I hate hurricanes and the lives and property they destroy. We know all too well after Hurricane Helene last week. 

As of Thursday, the Helene death toll had climbed to 213, making it the second deadliest hurricane in the United States in 50 years. Only Katrina in 2005 extracted a higher death toll.  

The Helene death toll is climbing still, as people are still missing. And the suffering in western Florida, Georgia and especially North Carolina continues on.

Hurricane season post-Helene is continuing to be very active, but luckily, two very powerful storms will completely miss the United States.

HURRICANE KIRK

The beautiful satellite photo of the day is Hurricane Kirk. It's a really impressive and large hurricane. Powerful, too, with top sustained winds of 145 mph. .That's a strong Category 4 storm. 

Luckily for everyone, Hurricane Kirk is in the middle of nowhere. This morning, it was about halfway between Florida and the western coast of Africa. It wasn't near any islands to speak of. 

Even better, it's not headed toward land. Kirk is going north, and it will eventually weaken over the colder waters of the North Atlantic. Toward next week, it could become a nasty non-tropical storm in parts of Europe.

The only effects Kirk will have on the United States is large ocean swells that will cause dangerous surf and rip currents along the entire eastern seaboard. The Canadian coast, too. 

TROPICAL STORM LESLIE

There's another one out there, also apparently destined to be a strong hurricane. Which, thank goodness, also won't affect us in the United States.

At the moment, Tropical Storm Leslie is also in the middle of nowhere, well to the southeast of Kirk.  This morning it was kind of halfway between the northeast tip of South America and the westernmost coast of Africa. 

The National Hurricane Center says Leslie had top winds of 60 mph this morning. But it's expected to grow into another powerful hurricane over the weekend, but probably not as powerful as Kirk.

It's heading toward the northwest and that direction will continue through early next week. That should keep Leslie out to sea. Eventually, like Kirk, soon to be hurricane Leslie will move into the cold north Atlantic waters and die out. 

GULF OF MEXICO

If there's any threat coming to the United States in the coming days, it would come from the Gulf of Mexico. 

For a week now, the National Hurricane Center has been eyeing stormy weather in the southern Gulf of Mexico. 

This might or might not develop into a tropical storm next week. It depends on whether the developing system gets tangled up with a cold front coming in from the north or not.

In any event, this will not be another Helene. It'll never get especially powerful. But however it evolves, it does have the potential to produce flooding rains in Florida next week, so stay tuned!