NY times, San Juan
A storm system south of Puerto Rico developed into Tropical Storm Fred on Tuesday night, the sixth named storm of the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season.
In an update before 11pm Eastern time, the National Hurricane Centre cautioned that Tropical Storm Fred was expected to produce heavy rainfall over Puerto Rico overnight and in Hispaniola on Wednesday, which could lead to flash flooding.
Fred was producing winds of up to 64kmh, moving west at 27kmh, the hurricane centre said.
By Thursday, the centre said, the storm is expected to be near the south-eastern Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
The storm was expected to move over Cuba and head north-west into the Gulf of Mexico, near Florida, according to a forecast by the hurricane centre.
The storm could pose wind and rainfall threats to Florida by Friday, but forecast details were still unclear, the centre said.
The links between hurricanes and climate change are becoming more apparent.
A warming planet can expect to see stronger hurricanes over time, and a higher incidence of the most powerful storms, though the overall number of storms could drop, because factors like stronger wind shear could keep weaker storms from forming.
Hurricanes are also becoming wetter because of more water vapour in the warmer atmosphere; scientists have suggested storms like Hurricane Harvey in 2017 produced far more rain than they would have without the human effects on climate.
Also, rising sea levels are contributing to higher storm surge, the most destructive element of tropical cyclones.