PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – Tropical Storm Kirk is unraveling. The center of the circulation has moved through the eastern Caribbean islands, but heavy rain and very gusty squalls on the back side of the system are still affecting some of the islands.
Kirk's top winds Friday are still estimated at 50 mph.
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The system will continue west over the next few days into the northern Caribbean Sea. Although the organized circulation will die out due to hostile upper-level winds, the moisture surge will bring heavy rain with the risk of flooding to the mountainous islands, including Puerto Rico beginning Friday night.
Due to a push of dry air from the northeast -- propelled south, in part, by the strengthening ex-Leslie -- Kirk is not expected to have any effect in South Florida.
The strong non-tropical low-pressure system in the middle of the Atlantic is made up of a combination of the system that was Subtropical Storm Leslie and energy from a sharp dip in the jet stream. That jet-stream dip has move on, and the leftover system is expected to redevelop into Subtropical Storm Leslie with wind near hurricane force.
As Leslie meanders over the moderately warm water of the North Atlantic, it might eventually become more purely tropical. In any case, it is not expected to threaten the U.S., except for generating large waves on the East Coast.
Otherwise, no tropical systems are expected to develop into mid-next week.
