Tropical Storm Humberto has formed in the central Atlantic, becoming the eighth named storm of the season, and forecasters warn it could intensify quickly into a powerful hurricane.
As of Thursday morning, Humberto was located about 465 miles (~748 kilometres) east-northeast of the northern Leeward Islands with maximum sustained winds near 50 mph (80.46 kph), moving northwest at roughly 8-10 mph (~12.8-16 kph), according to the National Hurricane Center.
Warm waters are expected to fuel rapid strengthening, with Humberto projected to reach hurricane strength within a day and possibly grow into a major hurricane over the weekend.
Current forecasts suggest it will track west of Bermuda by early next week, without posing an immediate threat to the US East Coast.
But attention is also fixed on another developing system, a cluster of thunderstorms dubbed Invest 94L, which has drenched Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Hispaniola with heavy rains.
The disturbance caused deadly flooding in Puerto Rico on Wednesday, sweeping away a car and killing its driver. It is now moving into a favourable environment near the Bahamas, where it could soon organise into Tropical Storm Imelda.
The interaction between Humberto and the second storm could shape what happens along the US Southeast coast.
Meteorologists say scenarios range from the storm being pulled harmlessly out to sea to potentially steering closer to land, depending on timing, intensity and even the possibility of a rare Fujiwhara effect — where two storms rotate around one another.
More clarity is expected by the weekend, leaving little time for the region to prepare if the system threatens landfall.
