Last Hurricane of the Season? A Possible Storm Brews in the Caribbean

As the 2024 hurricane season nears its end, there's a low-pressure system lurking in the Caribbean. This weather disturbance, located south of Cuba, has a 50% chance of becoming a tropical cyclone within a week. That's a jump from the 40% chance it had earlier this week. But don't expect it to happen soon; the chance is zero for the next 48 hours. This potential storm needs to strengthen its thunderstorms and form a closed circulation to intensify. Once it does, it could become a tropical storm or even a hurricane. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) predicts that this weather system might develop over the next couple of days and drift north or northwest. A tropical cyclone includes all storms from tropical depressions to hurricanes. A tropical depression has winds up to 38 mph, while a tropical storm has winds between 39 to 73 mph and is officially named. Hurricanes, with winds of 74 mph or more, are categorized from 1 to 5 based on their wind speeds. If this system reaches tropical storm strength, it would be named Patty and would be the 16th named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season. No threats to the continental US are expected within the next week, but Caribbean residents should keep an eye on it. Meanwhile, in the Pacific, two other systems are stirring, but they're less likely to form tropical cyclones than the Caribbean one. One has a 20% chance over the next week, while the other's chance is almost zero. "Do you have a tip on a science story that Newsweek should be covering? " Let us know via science@newsweek. com.