Latest Updates on Sub-Tropical Storm Leslie, Kirk

The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) is still issuing advisories for Tropical Depression Kirk, which weakened from a tropical storm, and sub-Tropical Storm Leslie.

Kirk

Kirk is moving “quickly westward” at 24 mph, according to the NHC at 5 a.m. on Sept 24, and it has 35 mph winds.

“There are no coastal watches or warnings in effect” for the storm, the agency said.

The storm is located about 950 miles west-southwest of the southernmost Cabo Verde Islands and about 1,600 miles east of the Windward Islands in the Caribbean.

“Although slight strengthening is forecast during the next few days, it is possible that Kirk could degenerate into a trough of low pressure during the next day or two while it moves quickly across the tropical central Atlantic,” according to the agency.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) is still issuing advisories for Tropical Depression Kirk, which weakened from a tropical storm, and Subtropical Storm Leslie. (NHC)

A discussion from the NHC reads: “This forecast takes Kirk toward the Lesser Antilles in 3 to 4 days and interests there should monitor the progress of this system.”

It added that Kirk’s “fast forward speed will likely limit the system from strengthening significantly during the next few days, so only a little intensification is predicted. The global models show a notable increase in westerly shear when Kirk reaches the eastern Caribbean Sea in about 4 days, and that should cause weakening and possibly even dissipation by the end of the forecast period.”

Kirk is moving “quickly westward” at 24 mph, according to the NHC, and it has 35 mph winds. (NHC)

Leslie

Leslie, which has 40 mph winds, has changed little in strength over the past 24 hours, according to the NHC in its 5 a.m. update. The storm is located about 1,200 miles west of the Azores Islands.

No coastal warnings or watches are in effect for the storm.

Leslie is moving a 6 mph, and only a “little motion is expected today. An eastward motion at a faster forward speed is forecast tonight and Tuesday,” according to the agency.

Sub-Tropical storm Leslie is moving out over the Atlantic. (NHC)

“Little change in strength is forecast during the next day or so, but Leslie is forecast to strengthen when it merges with a frontal system in two to three days,” the hurricane center added.

“A cold front is expected to approach the system, and that should cause Leslie to move eastward tonight and Tuesday. The front is expected to merge with Leslie by Tuesday night, causing it to become extratropical. While little change in intensity is expected during the next day or so, due to dry air and moderate shear, some strengthening as an extratropical low is likely due to baroclinic forcing. In fact, after becoming extratropical, the models show Leslie merging with another frontal low to its north, leading to the formation of a powerful slow-moving non-tropical low with gale- or storm-force winds over the central Atlantic later this week,” reads a discussion of the storm.