Hurricane Kirk is the next major storm in the pipeline, and while it’s not expected to hit land, it may well wreak havoc on the U.S. East Coast, weather experts said Thursday.
The storm was already a Category 3 hurricane on Thursday and was expected to grow rapidly into a monster Category 4. It was roughly 1,130 miles east of the Leeward Islands, carrying maximum sustained winds of 125 mph.
Kirk was slated to strengthen and gradually turn to the north-northwest over the central Atlantic. Its swells were expected to affect portions of the Leeward Islands and Bermuda, with “life-threatening” surf and rip currents on Saturday, the National Hurricane Center said.
The East Coast could see those conditions on Sunday as Kirk generates large swells, though as of Thursday, there were no coastal watches or warnings in effect.
“Swells generated by Kirk are spreading westward and are expected to reach portions of the Leeward Islands on Friday, Bermuda and the Greater Antilles on Saturday, and the East Coast of the United States and the Bahamas on Sunday,” the NHC said Thursday morning. “These swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.”
Meteorologists’ eyes were also on tropical storm Leslie, also over the Atlantic and growing, though not expected to directly affect land.
Neither storm was expected to impact the U.S. Southeast, which was devastated by Hurricane Helene last week. With at least 200 people dead and scores still missing, Helene is the deadliest storm to hit the mainland U.S. since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.