Jose Declared A Hurricane (Again) On Friday

Updated at 5:30 p.m. ET

People who live along the U.S. East Coast from North Carolina up to New England should monitor Hurricane Jose, forecasters say. The storm's winds won't get close to land until Sunday or Monday — but it was formally declared a hurricane again on Friday afternoon.

Jose had maximum sustained winds of 75 mph. It was located about 485 miles southwest of Bermuda and moving northwest at 10 mph, the National Hurricane Center says. The storm is expected to turn "north-northwestward tomorrow and northward by Sunday," the forecasters predict.

No coastal watches or warnings are in effect for Jose, but the storm is expected to "generate swells that will spread northward, reaching the mid-Atlantic coast and the coast of southern New England during the next few days. These swells are likely to cause dangerous surf and rip current conditions."

The hurricane center also says "a tropical storm watch may be needed for a portion of the North Carolina coast tomorrow."

The center recommends people along the East Coast pay attention to the forecast over the weekend, adding that, "Farther north ... the chance of some direct impacts from Jose is increasing, but it is too soon to determine their exact magnitude and location."

Another potential hurricane threat is approaching North America's Western coast, as Tropical Storm Norma is predicted to become a hurricane over the weekend before making landfall north of Cabo San Lucas on Baja California Sur in Mexico late Monday or early Tuesday. The storm had maximum sustained winds of 50 mph Friday morning.

In the Atlantic, Jose formed in the wake of Irma, the huge and deadly storm that ravaged islands in the Caribbean before bringing a massive storm surge and heavy rains to Florida and neighboring states. For a time, it was a dangerous Category 4 storm, with 150-mph winds. But it weakened after reaching that peak last weekend.

Jose performed an unusual loop-the-loop before continuing its northwest motion — and now it is expected to strengthen.

The hurricane center says it is tracking two potentially troubling systems behind Jose, out over the open Atlantic Ocean. And like Irma and Jose, they formed off of Africa's coast and are heading westward.

"Tropical storm or hurricane watches could be issued for portions of the Lesser Antilles on Saturday," the National Hurricane Center said in its update at 2 p.m. ET Friday.

One of those systems, dubbed Tropical Depression Fourteen, is forecast to develop into a tropical storm. "Fourteen" is trailing the other system, which is still a "tropical wave" — an area of thunderstorms and rain. It is still about 1,100 miles east of the Windward Islands along the Caribbean — but forecasters say it has a 90 percent chance of developing into a tropical depression over the next five days.

Copyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.