National Hurricane Center: Two tropical depressions now run in the Atlantic Ocean and both face the Gulf of Mexico, says NOAA

RALEIGH (WTVD) – Two tropical depressions have now formed in the Atlantic Ocean, and in a rare event, both see the same part of the country.

If forecasts are correct, we could see something that has never happened before: two hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico at the same time. We have seen two systems in golf before. There were two tropical storms in the Gulf of Mexico in 1959, one named Beulah and the other an unnamed storm. And in 1933, a Hurricane and Tropical Storm both hit the US

Tropical Depression Thirteen officially formed Wednesday night across the tropical central Atlantic Ocean. The system has deployed Tropical Storm Watches for the Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. The track for Thirteen shifted to the west with the 5 o’clock update on Friday which put land all over western Florida and Louisiana.

Thirteen has maximum sustained winds at 35 miles per hour and could sometimes become a tropical storm Friday. Some models even dropped Thirteen before reaching the US

Tropical Depression Thirteen are still about three days out before reaching the US. The system is expected to bring some storm surge, rain and wind impact to parts of Hispaniola, Cuba, the Bahamas this weekend and beginning new week.
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Tropical depression Fourteen formed Thursday morning about 235 miles east of Cabo Gracias a Dios, which lies on the border of Honduras and Nicaragua.

It has a maximum wind speed of 35 mph and moves from west-northwest at 12 miles per hour. It is also expected to intensify in a tropical storm; that could sometimes take place Friday. The spaghetti models differ from fourteen, leaving some question marks behind the path.

Whichever storm first becomes a tropical storm will be named Laura. If a second storm materializes in a tropical storm, that one will be called Marco. Despite its current numerical designation, it is possible for Tropical Depression Fourteen to become Laura and Tropical Depression Thirteen Marco.

The current track of Tropical Depression Fourteen takes it over the coast of Honduras and then over part of Mexico. The storm then returns to water in the Gulf of Mexico, where it could follow in Texas or Louisiana.

Changes in the track for both systems are possible. At present, none of the systems expected to make landfall in North Carolina are expected. We were able to see rain from both systems as they returned to the north mid to late week.

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