Tropical Storm Joyce forms and meets Helene and Hurricane Isaac in the busy Atlantic

The recently quiet hurricane season in the Atlantic has become quite active with two tropical storms and one hurricane.

The latest storm is Tropical Storm Joyce, which formed late Friday morning in the central tropical Atlantic about 1,325 miles east of the Northern Leeward Islands.

According to meteorologists at the National Hurricane Center, Joyce is moving northwest at about 13 mph (21 km/h), so the storm poses no threat of landfall.

“This movement is expected to continue at a gradually slower forward rate through Sunday,” the center said. “A gradual turn to the north is forecast on Monday.” Maximum sustained winds in Joyce will be around 40 mph, with higher gusts, and “gradual strengthening is expected through Saturday, followed by gradual weakening into early next week.” said the NHC.

Tropical Storm Isaac, which also poses no threat to the country, strengthened into Hurricane Isaac shortly before 5 a.m. on Friday. At 11 a.m., Isaac was producing peak sustained winds of 75 mph and was traveling east-northeast over the north-central Atlantic. “Further strengthening is expected over the next day or so, followed by gradual weakening by the end of this weekend,” the NHC said in its latest statement.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Helene continues to move north through the southeastern United States, with peak winds blowing at about 45 miles per hour. Helene is causing “historic and catastrophic flooding across portions of the southeastern and southern Appalachians,” the hurricane center said Friday morning. “Flash flood disasters (continue to be) in effect for the Atlanta metropolitan area as well as large portions of South Carolina and western North Carolina.”

Although Helene’s winds have weakened significantly since the storm made landfall in the Big Bend region of Florida on Thursday evening, with peak winds of 140 miles per hour, the storm continues to dump large amounts of rain across much of the southeastern United States fall

“Across portions of the central and southern Appalachians, Helene is expected to produce additional rainfall amounts of 3 to 6 inches, resulting in total rainfall accumulations of 6 to 12 inches, with isolated totals of approximately 20 inches,” the NHC noted. “These rainfall events will result in catastrophic and potentially life-threatening flash and urban flooding, as well as significant and record-breaking river flooding.”

The agency said: “Numerous significant landslides are expected in steep terrain in the southern Appalachians.”

Joyce is the tenth named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, widely considered one of the most active hurricane seasons on record. The season started on June 1st and runs until November 30th.