Nigel forecast to become the fourth major hurricane of the 2023 Atlantic season

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - Tropical Storm Nigel is forecast to become the next major hurricane of the season.

Nigel is churning over the central Atlantic with sustained winds up to 50 miles per hour. It is forecast to continue on a northwestward path while strengthening into a major hurricane by the middle of the week.

The storm is then forecast to make a northeast turn around an area of high pressure over the eastern Atlantic and weaken.

If Nigel does strengthen into a major hurricane it would be the fourth of the season. Franklin, Idalia, and Lee were all major hurricanes this year so far. Nigel is also the tenth named storm to form in the Atlantic since August 20th, the highest number of storms to form in the period between August 20th and September 16th since 2020.

Elsewhere we are monitoring a wave moving off the coast of Africa with a medium chance for development over the next week. This system is expected to travel over the central Atlantic where it could become a tropical depression or a tropical storm. The next name on the list is Ophelia.

We also have Margot which continues to spin over the central Atlantic.

The system is a tropical storm and is forecast to weaken to a tropical depression before making a northeast circle back towards the east and strengthening once again to a tropical storm briefly.

Margot has been a named storm for 10 days in the Atlantic.