All eyes, rightfully, are on Hurricane Irma today—and likely for the rest of the week. But another big storm is already brewing in the Atlantic Ocean.
Tropical Storm Jose is the 10th named storm of this hurricane season. As of 11 am ET Tuesday, it had sustained winds of 40 miles per hour and was located in the mid-Atlantic, moving west-northwest at 13 mph.
Forecasters expect Jose to become a hurricane by 8 am ET Thursday, though it will still be far at sea.
As far as any impact to the Caribbean or southern United States, it’s entirely too early to know with any certainty what Jose will do. Based on current tracking, the first risk of landfall is Saturday morning in islands around Antigua.
“The environment in which Jose is located in appears to be quite conducive for development for the next three days,” said the National Hurricane Center. “By days four and five, however, the vertical shear may increase in part due to the outflow from Hurricane Irma to its west. Thus the official intensity forecast show steady intensification until day three, then remains flat through day five.”
Forecasters, though, reminded people that long term forecasts for hurricanes are especially tricky.
“This forecast … has the usual—large—uncertainties at the long forecast range,” said the Hurricane Center.