Tropical Storm Kirk, 4 other systems monitored

Although National Hurricane Center forecasters are tracking five separate systems in the Atlantic Ocean, including newly formed Tropical Storm Kirk, only one is of real concern for the United States and the storm-ravaged Southeast.

The hurricane center most likely to hit the United States is in the Caribbean Sea, the hurricane center said Monday. A “major low pressure area” in the ocean is producing disorganized showers and thunderstorms, and environmental conditions appear to be conducive to the gradual development of the system.

The center said: “In a few days, a tropical depression could form while the system is over the southern Gulf of Mexico or the northwestern Caribbean Sea.”