CNN
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Two hurricanes are expected to make landfall this weekend in different ocean basins – Tammy in the Atlantic and Norma in the eastern Pacific.
Although neither hurricane poses a threat to the US, Norma has triggered hurricane warnings for Mexico, including the popular resort town of Cabo San Lucas, and Tammy for portions of the Leeward Islands, a chain of several island nations between the Caribbean Sea and the open Atlantic.
As of Friday night, Tammy was a Category 1 hurricane with sustained winds of 80 mph. The National Hurricane Center forecasts that it will slowly strengthen as it tracks through the Leeward Islands.
The storm has hurricane-force winds extending up to 25 miles from its center and tropical storm-force winds extending up to 125 miles.
Tammy is expected to move near or over portions of the Leeward Islands through Saturday night, and then move north of the northern Leeward Islands on Sunday.
Late October hurricanes in this part of the Atlantic are rare. Tammy is only the third hurricane to form this far southeast in the Atlantic since 1900, according to hurricane expert Michael Lowry.
In fact, it is the latest-forming hurricane in this part of the Atlantic since 1966, according to Phil Klotzbach, a research scientist at Colorado State University.
The formation of hurricanes in unusual areas later in the season was previously predicted due to the exceptionally warm Atlantic Ocean.
Storm surge of 1 to 3 feet is possible for parts of the Leeward Islands.
The most serious threats posed by the storms are heavy rainfall, which could result in flash flooding and mudslides. Rainfall totals for the Leeward Islands are expected to be 4 to 8 inches, with some areas possibly receiving up to 1 foot of rain. Lighter rain is expected in Puerto Rico and the British and US Virgin Islands.
Conditions in the affected areas should begin to improve from south to north starting late Sunday as the storm moves out of the region.
With Tammy in the Atlantic, there are
