TAMPA, Florida — U.S. forecasters issued a tropical storm warning for coastal North Carolina on Monday, while another system churning in the Gulf of Mexico could make landfall in Florida later in the week.
The two systems, still unnamed tropical depressions, were expected to strengthen into tropical storms by Tuesday, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
The North Carolina tropical storm warning came as a system in the Atlantic Ocean, with winds gusting around 35 mph, was expected to pass near the state’s Outer Banks region late on Tuesday, then turn quickly out to sea.
The threat to Florida was expected later in the week from a system that has been dumping torrential rain on western Cuba as it churns a path into the eastern Gulf of Mexico.
Forecasters said the system could make landfall on Thursday around northern Florida’s Gulf Coast, then cut across Georgia and impact the Carolinas on its way to the Atlantic.
The hurricane center also warned that western Cuba could get pounded with as much as 12 inches of rain, potentially triggering life-threatening flash floods and mudslides.
Heavy rains could hammer much of Florida through Thursday, with forecasters warning that up to 10 inches could fall on parts of its Gulf Coast, raising the threat of flooding.
The next two tropical storms of the 2016 Atlantic hurricane season will be named Hermine and Ian.
The developing systems come as the season’s first major Atlantic hurricane, Gaston, was expected to remain a hurricane for several days. Gaston was blasting 105-mph winds on Monday afternoon, posing no threat to land and located about 570 miles east of Bermuda.