Phoenix breaks heat records for 10 days while the West experiences sweltering temperatures

As excessive heat continues across the Lower 48 regions, tropical problems are brewing in the Gulf of Mexico as the National Hurricane Center continues to monitor an area that could gradually develop into a tropical or subtropical depression or storm sometime next week.

Regardless of developments, there is a high chance of very heavy rain in Florida beginning this Sunday and continuing throughout next week. Areas along and south of the I-4 corridor, including the Tampa Bay region hit hard by Hurricane Helene, could receive over 6 inches of rain.

Meteorologists are closely monitoring two key zones: Sarasota to Naples and Daytona Beach to West Palm Beach, where particularly heavy rainfall could occur.

The National Hurricane Center continues to monitor Hurricane Kirk and Tropical Storm Leslie in the open Atlantic, although neither poses a threat for landfall.

Such storms rarely occur in the Far Eastern tropical Atlantic in October. Typically, tropical systems closer to the United States form in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico as the fall season progresses. Therefore, these powerful storms are a powerful reminder of the record warm water temperatures that fuel these phenomena.

Hurricane Kirk made history when it reached Category 4 on Thursday, breaking the record for the easternmost Category 4 or 5 Atlantic hurricane in October and November. With winds of 145 miles per hour, the storm on Thursday also became the strongest hurricane of this late year since Hurricane Iota in 2020.