New Atlantic storm set to form soon. Another could follow near Florida
.png "Two tropical waves have a high chance of developing into tropical depressions within the next week.")
Both tropical waves in the Atlantic now have a high chance of becoming new storms within the next week, but only one of them could potentially veer close enough to Florida and the Bahamas to maybe have an impact.
The National Hurricane Center said one of those waves — the eastern one — is likely to become a tropical depression either Wednesday or Thursday. It’s likely to stay out to sea.
But it’s the other system, set to dump rain on Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands Wednesday and Thursday, that’s worth watching for Floridians. The hurricane center expects it to develop into a tropical depression around Friday or the weekend while it’s over the Bahamas.
“Many things are changing over time and [the western wave] looks to be our biggest concern with its proximity to the southeast USA by early next week,” the Weather Channel’s Jim Cantore posted on X Wednesday morning. “It may also never touch the USA. We will know a lot more by the weekend, but we must watch it.”
As of 2 p.m. Wednesday, the hurricane center held the westernmost wave’s chances of development at 30% in the next two days and an 80% shot at forming a tropical depression in the next seven days.
Forecasters say determining the future of the two systems is a tricky forecast. They could form close enough to impact each other, either weakening or strengthening the other.
“Not a lot of run to run consistency on models, which isn’t a huge surprise in a complex setup like this. The most recent [American model] shows [the eastern wave] dominating and eventually absorbing [the western wave], which is possible if it stays weak like this,” wrote Andy Hazelton, an associate scientist at the University of Miami studying hurricanes, on X Wednesday morning.
For now, most of the other early models continued to suggest that both will develop and follow somewhat parallel lines along the Southeastern coast of the U.S.
Most models show similar tracks with the eastern wave — a northern curve out to sea. On Wednesday afternoon, the easternmost wave had a 90% chance of strengthening into a depression in the next two or seven days.
But the models disagree on the western wave. Some steer it relatively clear of the Bahamas and Florida, while others take it much closer to the Sunshine State’s east coast. It’s too soon to know what path the storm could take, because this early in the process, it doesn’t have a defined center swirl, and long-range “spaghetti” models aren’t as skilled as predicting storm paths without an eye to lock in on.
The hurricane center noted that Hurricane Hunters are scheduled to fly the western wave on Wednesday, which should bring more data to help forecasters predict what the system might do.
The next names on the storm list are Humberto and Imelda, but only tropical storms get names, not depressions, so it’s unclear which wave could earn which name.
Michael Brennan, director of the National Hurricane Center, said in a video update Wednesday afternoon that Floridians, Bahamians and others along the Southeast coast should keep an eye on the forecast.
“Pay attention over the next several days as the systems evolve,” he said.
This story was originally published September 24, 2025 at 8:56 AM with the headline "New Atlantic storm set to form soon. Another could follow near Florida."
