Tropical Storm Bret Update: Storm on Track to Become Hurricane

The next major storm of 2023’s hurricane season became a tropical storm on Monday when, just ahead of 5 p.m. on Monday, Tropical Storm Bret formed over the eastern Atlantic Ocean.

According to the latest update from the National Hurricane Center, which came at 5 a.m. on Tuesday, the storm was located about 1130 miles east of the Southern Windward Islands, the larger islands of the Lesser Antilles. It was marching westward towards the Caribbean at 17 mph (28 km/h), bringing with it maximum sustained winds of about 40 mph (65 km/h).

The storm, according to the NHC, is expected to continue to travel in that direction and should “be approaching the Lesser Antilles by late this week.” It is expected to strengthen and “could become a hurricane in a couple of days.” If it does, it would be the first hurricane of the 2023 season, which typically runs from June through November.

There are currently no coastal watches or warnings in effect, but the NHC said that “interests in the Lesser Antilles should monitor the progress of this system.”

After its impact in the Lesser Antilles, there’s a lot less certainty of Bret’s path, but the NHC is warning those in other Caribbean islands to be aware of the storm and to keep tabs on its path.

“Given the larger than usual uncertainty in the track forecast, it is too early to specify the location of magnitude of where these hazards could occur,” the latest advisory reads.

“However, everyone in the Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands should closely monitor updates to the forecast for Bret and have their hurricane plan in place.”

NHC Continues to Monitor a Second Storm
The NHC is continuing to monitor a second storm system that is traveling behind Tropical Storm Bret.  As of 5 a.m. on Tuesday, that second storm was located several hundred miles southwest of the Cabo Verde Islands.

The storm is likely to intensify into a Tropical Depression later this week as the storm continues to move westward at 10 mph to 15 mph, the NHC said. As with Bret, there’s still a significant amount of uncertainty regarding its path, so whether or not this storm impacts travel is less clear than even Tropical Storm Bret.

In May, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released its prediction for the 2023 hurricane season and said that it expects somewhere between 12 and 17 names storms (winds of 39 mph or higher). Five to nine of those storms will likely become hurricanes (winds of 74 mph or higher) and one to four will reach hurricane strength (Category 3 or higher with winds of 111 mph or higher), the NOAA said.