ORLANDO, Fla. _ As Hurricane Dorian made its way closer to Florida on Tuesday, Tropical Storm Fernand formed in the Gulf of Mexico. Tropical Storm Gabrielle formed Wednesday morning in the far east Atlantic.
As of 5 p.m. EDT Wednesday, Fernand was moving inland over northeastern Mexico with 35 mph maximum sustained winds and life-threatening flash flooding possible over portions of that area of the country.
As of 5 p.m. Wednesday, Tropical Storm Fernand was about 50 miles northwest of La Pesca, Mexico, and moving west-northwest at 9 mph.
It's expected to drop 6 to 12 inches of rain with isolated pockets of 18 inches in Mexico that could cause life-threatening mudslides and flash floods, the National Hurricane Center said. South Texas and the lower Texas coast are expected to receive 2 to 4 inches of rain with isolated areas of 6 inches.
In the Atlantic, Tropical Storm Gabrielle formed overnight. As of 5 p.m. Wednesday, the storm had maximum sustained winds of 50 mph and was located 740 miles west-northwest of the Cape Verde Islands moving northwest at 9 mph.
In the mid-Atlantic, a trough of low pressure located 150 miles northeast of Bermuda as of 2 p.m. Wednesday was producing disorganized showers and thunderstorms, the NHC said. The chance of a tropical depression forming from this storm is 60% in the next 48 hours and also 60% in the next five days.
And on the heels of Tropical Storm Gabrielle is another tropical wave projected to form between Africa and the Cape Verde Islands that could likely form into another tropical depression by late this week. The NHC puts chances of formation at 50% in the next five days.
After Tropical Storm Fernand and Tropical Storm Gabrielle, the next named storms would be Tropical Storm Humberto and Tropical Storm Imelda.
The hurricane season typically peaks between mid-August and late October.
In 2004, Florida saw four hurricanes strike between August and September when Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne pummeled the state in short order.
