Tropical Storm Karl Expected to Become a Hurricane Late This Week; Potential Weekend Threat For Bermuda

September 19,2016
Tropical Storm Karl is still battling wind shear and dry air, but is expected to find a more favorable environment to intensify into a hurricane later this week.
As of Monday night, Karl was centered over 700 miles east-northeast of the Leeward Islands.
(MORE: Hurricane Central)

Current Storm Information

To be blunt, it's not the most impressive tropical storm on infrared satellite imagery, with clusters of convection not terribly well organized around the center of circulation, thanks to the twin nemeses mentioned above (wind shear, dry air).
Karl is forecast to move west-northwest along the southern periphery of a ridge of high pressure in the central Atlantic through the next three days.
Karl will not directly impact the Leeward Islands as it passes to the north later this week.
(MORE: Mid-Season Atlantic Report Card)

Projected Path

As Karl reaches the western periphery of the aforementioned area of high pressure, it will begin to turn north by late this week into the weekend.

Karl's Steering Late Week

Karl is expected to become a hurricane somewhere south of Bermuda by Friday.
For this reason, residents and visitors of Bermuda should monitor the progress of Karl closely, as it could pass near Bermuda as a hurricane sometime this weekend.
Given this, it appears very unlikely Karl will pose a threat to the U.S., other than the eventual generation of large swells reaching the East Coast.
(MORE: Invest 96L Behind Karl in the Atlantic)
That said, forecast changes are possible. Stay tuned for updates in the days ahead.

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