Clock ticking for the Southeast as next tropical threat looms, with US impacts likely by Monday

By CNN Meteorologist Briana Waxman

(CNN) — More tropical trouble is brewing in the Atlantic Ocean, with a new storm that could take aim at the US Southeast early next week poised to join Hurricane Humberto by Saturday. But unlike Humberto, this one could go on to make a direct impact and leave little time to prepare.

An area of rain and thunderstorms at the southeastern edge of the Bahamas was designated Potential Tropical Cyclone Nine late Friday afternoon. The hurricane center uses this label for systems that haven’t formed yet but could bring tropical storm conditions to land within 72 hours.

For that reason, a tropical storm warning was issued for the central Bahamas and a tropical storm watch is in effect for northwestern parts of the archipelago.

Potential Tropical Cyclone Nine is expected to become a tropical depression by Saturday and Tropical Storm Imelda as early as Saturday night, and it could strengthen further, possibly into a Category 1 hurricane by Monday.

If this new system organizes as expected and then takes aim at the Southeast, it could make landfall by Tuesday. Even if it doesn’t make landfall, there’s concern for a flood threat from a storm that could put on the brakes as it nears the coast.

The hurricane center’s initial forecast shows the storm stalling as it nears the South Carolina coast as a Category 1 hurricane Tuesday.

Meanwhile, newly formed Hurricane Humberto rapidly intensified into a Category 3 storm while tracking over warm water and a less hostile environment in the central Atlantic Friday. Humberto is expected to continue to rapidly intensify and become a Category 4 hurricane, packing winds of 145 mph, by Sunday. It is not a direct threat to the US, but it might bring some impacts to Bermuda next week as it tracks west of the archipelago.

Humberto’s size and position could influence how future Imelda develops, how quickly it moves and where it tracks.

A weaker, slower storm could be tugged harmlessly out to sea by Humberto, while a stronger, faster Imelda might resist that pull and take a path toward the Southeast coast. If the two storms get close enough, they could even circle each other in a phenomenon called the Fujiwhara effect – though that scenario looks less likely now than earlier this week.

So much depends on the strength, size and forward speed of these two storms, all of which are still to be determined.

Either way, the chance for some impact to the Southeast has increased since Thursday.

What to prepare for now

The Carolinas as well as coastal Georgia have the highest odds for a direct strike and the most significant impacts, but the details are still coming into focus.

Even if the US escapes a landfall completely, tropical moisture could still funnel into the Southeast, fueling heavy rain and a serious flood risk. Coastal flooding from storm surge, beach erosion and strong coastal winds would also be threats regardless of a landfall.

Beaches all along the Eastern seaboard will be plagued by life-threatening rip currents and large swells for much of next week because of Humberto spinning offshore and future Imelda.

A new concerning scenario has also emerged where Imelda races toward the Southeast coast and then gets trapped there by the weather pattern, wringing out soaking rain over parts of the Southeast for days on end.

If that happens, widespread flooding is possible, with swollen rivers and streams that could take days to recede. The combination of tropical moisture and a stalled weather pattern is the exact recipe for some of the Southeast’s most damaging flood events.

Anyone from the Bahamas to the US East Coast will need to keep a close eye on the forecast in the coming days for what’s likely to be Imelda as rain, wind and storm surge threats come into better focus. This homegrown storm will leave a very narrow window to prepare.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.