The National Hurricane Center is closely monitoring the tropics following the impact of Hurricane Helene, which left significant flooding and power outages across parts of North Carolina and the southern Appalachians after making landfall as a CAT 4 storm in Florida’s big bend region. Helene’s aftermath is being compared to the catastrophic Hurricane Katrina. Forecasters are tracking two named storms: Hurricane Isaac, currently located several hundred miles from the Azores, and Tropical Storm Joyce, which is weakening in the central Atlantic. Neither one of them is seen as a threat to us. However, a broad area of low pressure is forming in the Western Caribbean, with a potential tropical depression expected to develop mid-week. Residents from Mexico to the Gulf Coast are advised to stay vigilant.