【Dead Again】

After the most energetic September on Dead Againrecord in the Atlantic Ocean basin, with three monster storms making landfall in the U.S. or its territories, it's clear that the hurricane season is by no means over.

In fact, things are heating up again. A tropical depression has formed in the southern Caribbean, off the coast of Nicaragua and Honduras. The system is expected to become a tropical storm later today or tonight. If it does so, it would be named Nate.

SEE ALSO: The 5 most inappropriate things Donald Trump said at a Puerto Rico disaster briefing

The center of the storm is forecast to move across northeastern Nicaragua and Honduras through Thursday night, before emerging again over the warm waters of the Caribbean Sea. Torrential rainfall is forecast for Nicaragua's mountains in particular, potentially exceeding 2 feet.

The National Hurricane Center is predicting that Tropical Storm Nate will thread the needle between the Yucatan Peninsula and western Cuba, allowing it to continue to intensify slowly over time.

The outlook for the storm is worrisome for the Gulf Coast, because computer models show it becoming better organized while moving to the north, near or over parts of the Yucatan Peninsula. The Hurricane Center is forecasting that the storm will emerge in the southern Gulf of Mexico by Saturday, where it would encounter water with high ocean heat content that could allow it to intensify.

Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

"Other than land interaction between 24-36 hours, environmental conditions look conducive for intensification of the depression," the NHC wrote in a forecast discussion. This next sentence is particularly troubling, given how quickly storms have intensified so far this season.

"Rapid intensification is a possibility over the northwestern Caribbean or southern Gulf of Mexico while the system is traversing rather warm and deep waters...," the NHC said.

Here's the Hurricane Center's best advice for storm-weary Gulf of Mexico residents: "Residents along the Gulf Coast from Louisiana to Florida should monitor the progress of this system for the next several days and heed any advice given by local officials."

Because the storm is so weak right now, computer models are having trouble pinpointing a most likely landfall location, if indeed it does hit the U.S. However, most models show a general motion to the north-northeast once it emerges in the Gulf of Mexico, and it could intensify into a hurricane as it moves toward somewhere between northeastern Texas and Florida.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

One point with this storm is that, statistically speaking, the odds do not favor another Category 5 hurricane that will decimate everything in its path. We've already seen two such storms this season -- Hurricanes Irma and Maria -- along with another Category 4 storm -- Harvey -- which inundated coastal Texas with more than 5 feet of rain -- the most ever recorded from a tropical storm or hurricane in the U.S.

This doesn't mean that Hurricane Nate cannot become a major hurricane, with Category 3 intensity or greater, but it would be unusual if it does so. There are signs, though, that October and November could be busier months for Atlantic hurricanes than average, given that ocean waters in the tropical Pacific Ocean have been trending cooler with time, indicative of the possible onset of a La Niña event.

Hurricane seasons with a developing La Niña in the Pacific tend to be more active, particularly because wind shear is lower over parts of the Atlantic.

---

Featured Video For You

---

This is how hurricanes are named

---

• Digital Culture
• Science
• Games
• Entertainment
• Shopping
• Social Good
• Life
• Tech

• Unexpected Consequences
• Sound Tracks: An Interview with Simone Forti
• Forging Intimacy
• Gwyneth Paltrow and the birth of courtcore
• Engineered for Dystopia
• Black Friday Xbox deals 2023: Save on 'Assassin's Creed' franchise, more
• All the best Cyber Monday deals on Sony headphones and earbuds
• Greta Gerwig's 'Barbie' movie character posters take over Twitter
• Show Workers the Money!
• Black Friday 2023 laptop deals at Walmart: Save up to $551

• Best Beats Pill deal: Save $50 after Prime Day
• Best Samsung Curved Monitor deal: Save $60 on 27
• NYT Strands hints, answers for October 11
• Croatia vs. Scotland 2024 livestream: Watch UEFA Nations League for free
• Finland vs. England 2024 livestream: Watch UEFA Nations League for free
• Apple Intelligence offers breakup text summaries
• Tesla's 'Cybercab' robotaxi is here, and yet still so far away
• How your phone can save endangered languages
• This Sonos soundbar is still 40% off after Prime Day
• Best October Prime Day AirTag deals following the sale

• The Most Disappointing PC Games of 2017
• Inheriting a Legacy
• Amazon Black Friday TV deals 2023: Fire TVs, cheap QLEDs, and more
• An open letter to Elon Musk: Leave stan Twitter alone
• <i>New People</i>, Old Words
• Period Piece: Rammellzee and the End by Dave Tompkins
• Tom Wolfe, Straight
• 44 Black Friday headphone deals: AirPods Pro at record
• Is Anyone Relating?
• Lofi Girl YouTube stream has a companion: Synth Boy

• Mariah Carey Has a Cold
• Gwyneth Paltrow trial memes explode after 'I wish you well' moment
• Period Piece: Rammellzee and the End by Dave Tompkins
• Writers’ Fridges: Leslie Jamison
• Malign Intervention
• Early Cyber Monday Sonos deals: save on Era 100, Move, Roam, and more
• Donald Trump arrested as the internet erupts with memes
• Redux: Reading About Mom by The Paris Review
• Let’s Do It, Pruitt!
• Gwyneth Paltrow and the birth of courtcore