Tropical Storm Laura could become a hurricane early next week — around the same time another storm develops into a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico. The system is forecast to bring rain and flooding to Caribbean islands on its way to the U.S. mainland.

National Weather Service

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National Weather Service

Tropical Storm Laura could become a hurricane early next week — around the same time another storm develops into a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico. The system is forecast to bring rain and flooding to Caribbean islands on its way to the U.S. mainland.

National Weather Service

Two tropical systems are heading toward the Gulf of Mexico – and both of them could become hurricanes before they near the U.S. mainland early next week, according to the National Hurricane Center.

One storm is currently forecast to hit near the Texas-Louisiana border; the other could reach the Florida Panhandle. Both of the systems are predicted to strengthen into hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico, possibly by Monday or Tuesday.

“If that were to occur, it would be first time on record that the Gulf of Mexico has had 2 hurricanes at the same time,” meteorologist Philip Klotzbach says via Twitter.

The two systems are currently hundreds of miles apart, but their paths are expected to parallel each other in the Gulf, and even partially intersect. Their landfalls will likely be divided by hours, not days. But it’s not yet certain if both will hit the shore as hurricanes, or if their paths might diverge.

Tropical Storm Laura, which strengthened into a named storm Friday morning, is in the Atlantic near the Lesser Antilles. Tropical Depression Fourteen is in the western Caribbean Sea, off the coast of Honduras.

Tropical Depression Fourteen – which could become Tropical Storm Marcos – is predicted to become a hurricane in the Gulf, and then to weaken before hitting the Texas coast near Houston, possibly by Tuesday morning.

National Weather Service

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National Weather Service

Tropical Depression Fourteen – which could become Tropical Storm Marcos – is predicted to become a hurricane in the Gulf, and then to weaken before hitting the Texas coast near Houston, possibly by Tuesday morning.

National Weather Service

Tropical Depression Fourteen – which will become Tropical Storm Marcos, if it develops as forecasters expect – will likely arrive first. It’s predicted to become a hurricane in the Gulf, but the NHC says it could weaken a bit before hitting the Texas coast near Houston, possibly by Tuesday morning. The system has already triggered a hurricane watch for Cancun and other parts of Mexico’s southeastern coast.

Tropical Storm Laura is causing alerts in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Hispaniola, where it will drop heavy rain on its way toward Cuba and the Gulf.

“This rainfall could cause flash and urban flooding,” the hurricane center says.

Laura is expected to be a hurricane when it reaches the U.S. coast near the Alabama-Florida border, the NHC said in an advisory at 11 a.m. ET Friday.

The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season is already setting records, with named storms forming at a pace never seen before. The latest estimates from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration call for nearly twice the normal number of named storms in 2020.

Climate change has been linked to the more common occurrence of major hurricanes globally as well as the rising number of hurricanes in the Atlantic. In addition to strong winds, many of the most dangerous storms in recent years have brought tremendous amounts of rain – creating new threats to people and infrastructure far inland from the coast.