There’s another storm brewing in the Atlantic that could hit the US – just days after the Milton and Helene massacre.
Weather experts in Florida are keeping an eye on the weather event, currently named AL94, which could be renamed Tropical Storm Nadine if it worsens.
And now a spaghetti model – so named because its lines resemble pasta strands – suggests that AL94 will track northwest from its current position.
This would put the storm north of Antigua and Barbuda and toward the Dominican Republic and the southeastern tip of Cuba, where models show the storm heading southwest toward Jamaica.
While the model currently doesn’t have a direct line toward Florida, that could change in the coming days as meteorologists say the Sunshine State is a “possibility.”
The spaghetti model, which was created using several forecast models, shows Hurricane Nadine potentially moving through the Caribbean. But the expert said there is still a chance it could hit Florida
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) revealed Tuesday that Invest L94 will become a 50 percent hurricane within seven days.
“This system is expected to move generally westward and environmental conditions are expected to become more favorable for gradual development by midweek,” NHC said in a statement.
The spaghetti model, created by Tropical Facts, showed that the storm will likely move northwest from its current location in the tropical Atlantic Ocean.
The computer model was created by combining multiple forecast tracks from different weather models onto one map.
And each line, which resembles a spaghetti strand, represents a forecast for a different weather mode used by NHC.
Crossing paths, such as those over the Dominican Republic and Cuba, suggest that the forecasts used to track Nadine are consistent over that track, increasing the probability of the forecast.
AccuWeather’s chief hurricane forecaster, Alex DaSilva, said: “One possibility would be for the system to move westward into Central America and southern Mexico, and the other, unfortunately, is toward Florida.
“It’s usually very difficult for a tropical system to move into the northwest and Texas this late in the season because of the prevailing westerly winds in that area.”
Nadine, currently a tropical depression, is headed for Florida, where there is a 50 percent chance of reaching hurricane status within seven days
Nadine is currently a tropical depression, a cyclone with maximum sustained surface winds of 60 kilometers per hour, but could strengthen if it reaches warmer waters in the Gulf of Mexico.
“Not only are the waters in this area very warm – up to 80 degrees Fahrenheit deep – the ocean heat in the western Caribbean is at a record high for any time of the year,” DaSilva said.
However, meteorologists are cautious, telling DailyMail.com that it is unlikely the storm will reach hurricane status.
If the storm moves over the Virgin Islands, mountains could disrupt its growth.
He added that “the chance of a direct impact on the US is low because there is wind shear that could protect us.”
Wind shear is a high-altitude wind that can remove heat and moisture from the eye of a hurricane and distort its shape, effectively tearing the eye apart.
If the storm were to develop into something larger, DaSilva said that likely won’t happen until Oct. 17-18, and meteorologists won’t know what path the storm will take until then.
“I don’t think it’s going to affect us in any way,” he said, adding that “it’s either just going to be pushed out to sea or there’s going to be nothing left by the time it gets to the U.S.”
The storm is still a long way off, however, and if it does reach the U.S., it won’t be for another nine days, “so things can still change,” DaSilva said.
If the storm does take a turn and hit Florida, it will be the fourth to hit the state this year and just weeks after Milton left a trail of devastation.
At least 17 people have died in Florida, and while the state is still assessing the financial toll, the damage is estimated to be in the billions.
Milton also came after Hurricane Helene hit the Southeast two weeks earlier, flooding states along the coast.
Helene has caused between $30.5 billion and $47.5 billion in total damage across 16 states, according to CoreLogic, and has so far claimed the lives of more than 230 people, with countless others still listed as missing.
This year, the hurricane season has already seen above-average numbers by mid-October, with four major hurricanes, including Beryl, Helene, Kirk and Milton, hitting the U.S.
In May, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced that the U.S. would have an above-average hurricane season, predicting between four and seven Category 3 or higher hurricanes would strike.
The prediction has so far been accurate, with numbers above historical averages by mid-October. Hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30.