Tropical storms Josephine, Kyle gradually losing steam
Two tropical storms -- Josephine and Kyle -- continue to trek through the Atlantic, though on tracks that will bring them nowhere near land.
The two were the earliest-named storms of their letter on record when they reached tropical status, continuing this season's forecast above-average trend. However, their impacts on land have been minimal -- in Kyle's case, non-existent -- and both are expected to continue to weaken. Here's where they stand so far.
TROPICAL STORM JOSEPHINE
Josephine, some 300 km north of San Juan, Puerto Rico Sunday morning, continues to chug along west-northwest at a leisurely pace of 24 km/h.
"A turn toward the northwest is expected by tonight, with Josephine forecast to slow down and recurve toward the north and northeast on Tuesday and Wednesday, the U.S. National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said Sunday.
Maximum sustained winds are near 65 km/h with higher gusts, and weakening is expected, such that Josephine may lose tropical status by late Sunday or early Monday.
In terms of rainfall, Josephine is expected to bring 25-75 mm over portions of the northern Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico by the time it finally ceases to affect those regions. Isolated minor flooding is possible in Puerto Rico through Monday.
TROPICAL STORM KYLE
Tropical Storm Kyle reached named status late last week, coming to life a scant few hundred kilometres from the Virginia Coast.
However, it was fated to be a non-factor for any land-based interests, immediately taking a track that sent it away from the U.S. Eastern Seaboard, and south enough of Atlantic Canada to have no real impact on the weather there.
The NHC says Kyle's winds were 65 km/h Sunday morning, but set to weaken rapidly. The storm is already post-tropical, and is set to dissipate altogether by Monday night.
Kyle is the most recent storm this season to be the earliest-named on record for a particular letter. The former earliest K-named storm was Hurricane Katrina, which reached tropical status on Aug. 24, 2005.
With Kyle, the 2020 season has so far produced 11 named storms, including two hurricanes: Hanna, which impacted Texas and northern Mexico, and Isaias, which tracked up the U.S. East Coast and whose remnants fuelled downpours in Quebec earlier in August.
