Tracking Nadine and newly-formed Hurricane Oscar

AccuWeather meteorologists are currently tracking Nadine and newly-formed Hurricane Oscar

While the clock appeared to ticking on the strengthening window for a tropical rainstorm north of Hispaniola, it quickly became better organized and Tropical Storm Oscar formed late Saturday morning. Oscar rapidly intensified, becoming a hurricane early Saturday afternoon. Oscar will bring the risk of flooding downpours as it tracks westward, AccuWeather meteorologists say. Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Nadine formed in the western Caribbean early Saturday morning.

One rainstorm, which is now Oscar, has been tracking westward much of this week, just north of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean. The other has been hovering over the western part of the Caribbean Sea most of this week, which has since become Tropical Storm Nadine.

"Dry air and disruptive breezes (wind shear) held back the intensification process on both systems through Thursday night," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dan Pydynowski said, "However, wind shear is dropping off for both, so there is a window where either or both systems can ramp up into Saturday."

Tracking Nadine in the western Caribbean

The tropical rainstorm in the western Caribbean has organized and strengthened into Tropical Storm Nadine early Saturday morning and will track westward into Belize on Saturday. Prior to making landfall in Belize, a quick strengthening process over the warm waters allowed for further intensification. Nadine made landfall near Belize City, Belize, around 12 p.m. EDT on Saturday.

Beach, fishing, small craft and cruise interests should be prepared for rapidly building surf and deteriorating weather conditions into Saturday over the northwestern Caribbean.

Nadine will deliver torrential downpours and gusty winds to Belize, southeastern Mexico, northern Honduras and northern Guatemala through much of this weekend. The AccuWeather RealImpact™ Scale for Hurricanes is a 1.

A general 1-4 inches of rain will fall with pockets of 4-8 inches, mainly in southern Mexico, where there is an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 25 inches. Where more than a few inches of rain pours down, there is the risk of life-threatening flash flooding and mudslides in hilly terrain.

Wind gusts can become strong enough to trigger sporadic power outages in clusters of heavy thunderstorms. The AccuWeather Local StormMax™ wind gust for Nadine is 80 mph.

While mountainous terrain in southern Mexico and Central America is likely to lead to the total demise of Nadine, there is a chance the circulation survives and reaches the eastern Pacific, where regeneration or a new storm could evolve next week.

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Tracking Hurricane Oscar

Newly-formed Hurricane Oscar has the potential to strengthen further this weekend.

The period of strengthening will likely end as it encounters increasing wind shear, which will help to turn it southwestward landfall in Cuba on Monday morning. Once it leaves Cuba, it may turn northeastward toward the Bahamas before eventually accelerating into the Atlantic.

Oscar will bring building seas, dangerous surf and increasing downpours for a time in eastern Cuba. Some gusty winds and heavy rain will also push into the Turks and Caicos.

The AccuWeather RealImpact™ Scale for Hurricanes for the northern Islands of the Caribbean is 1.

Enough rain can be squeezed out on the mountainous terrain and the steep slopes to trigger dangerous flash flooding and mudslides. While the islands have encountered much worse over the years in terms of wind, there can still be sporadic power outages due to locally strong gusts in clusters of thunderstorms.

Quick summary of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season so far

The Atlantic hurricane season does not officially end until Nov. 30. Thus far, there have been 15 tropical depressions and tropical storms with nine hurricanes, including four major hurricanes (Category 3 or greater on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale).

Category 5 Hurricane Beryl set early-season intensity and formation records with maximum sustained winds reaching 165 mph on July 2 over the eastern Caribbean.

Damage and fatalities from late-September Category 4 Hurricane Helene (140-mph maximum sustained winds) continue to be assessed. Still, the Gulf of Mexico hurricane is already one of the deadliest and most destructive in U.S. history.

At one point on Oct. 6, there were three simultaneous hurricanes: Kirk, Leslie and Milton.

Milton, in the Gulf of Mexico, was not only the strongest hurricane of the 2024 season so far but one of the strongest ever in the Atlantic basin, with maximum sustained winds reaching 180 mph on Oct 7.

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