TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Sally reached hurricane strength on Monday, becoming the seventh hurricane of 2020.

Hurricane Sally is just one of several systems churning in an extremely active Atlantic basin. We’re also keeping an eye on Hurricane Paulette, Tropical Storm Teddy, and Tropical Storm Vicky as well as disturbance and a tropical wave that is expected to emerge off the coast of Africa in the coming days.

Paulette strengthened into a Category 2 hurricane as it moved away from Bermuda Monday morning.

Tropical Storm Teddy, the earliest “T” named storm on record, formed in the Atlantic and is forecast to reach hurricane strength later this week, the National Hurricane Center said.

Hurricane Sally

Sally continues to move slowly over the north central Gulf Monday after reaching Category 2 hurricane strength around 5:00pm.

The storm is expected to bring life-threatening storm surge, hurricane-force winds and flash flooding to the northern Gulf Coast.

At 11 p.m., the storm had maximum sustained winds of 100 mph and was located about 130 miles south of the Biloxi, Mississippi. It was moving west-northwest at 3 mph.

Forecasters predict Sally will turn northward by late Tuesday and is expected to make landfall in the hurricane warned area by Wednesday morning then move slowly northeastward through the southeast United States.

The storm is expected to dump 8 to 16 inches of rain on the central Gulf Coast with isolated amounts of 24 inches.

A Storm Surge Warning is in effect for:

  • Port Fourchon, Louisiana to the Okaloosa/Walton County Line, Florida
  • Lake Pontchartrain, Lake Maurepas, and Lake Borgne
  • Mobile Bay

A Hurricane Warning is in effect for:

  • Grand Isle, Louisiana to the Navarre, FL
  • Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Maurepas including metropolitan New
    Orleans

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for:

  • Navarre, FL to Indian Pass, FL
  • Grand Isle, Louisiana to Morgan City, Louisiana

Hurricane Paulette

Paulette continues to move away from Bermuda after battering the island with hurricane-force winds and torrential rains overnight.

At 11 p.m., the storm had maximum sustained winds of 105 mph and was about 275 miles north-northeast of the island.

The storm is moving northeast at 17 mph. The storm could strengthen into a major hurricane as it moves further into the north Atlantic before weakening Wednesday.

Tropical Storm Teddy

Tropical Storm Teddy is forecast to become a hurricane on Tuesday.

At 11 p.m., the storm had maximum sustained winds of 50 mph and was about 1,100 miles east of the Lesser Antilles. It’s moving west at 13 mph.

The storm is expected to move west and then west-northwestward for the next day or two, and turn toward the northwest in the next couple of days as it strengthens into a hurricane.

Teddy could become a major hurricane by Thursday.

Teddy has replaced 2005’s Tammy as the earliest “T” storm on record.

Tropical Storm Vicky

Tropical Depression 21 strengthened into Tropical Storm Vicky Monday morning. The storm is churning over the far eastern tropical Atlantic, but is expected to be short-lived, the NHC said.

Vicky has winds of 50 miles per hour but is expected to weaken overnight.

Vicky became the twentieth named storm of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season.

There is only one name left on the hurricane list, Wilfred, until forecasters start using the Greek alphabet.

Other areas to watch

Forecasters are also watching an area of low pressure in the Gulf of Mexico and a tropical wave that’s about to emerge off Africa.

The first disturbance, located over the west-central Gulf of Mexico, is producing limited shower activity and has a low 20% chance of development in the next five days.

The NHC is also monitoring a tropical wave near the west coast of Africa. The wave is producing disorganized showers and thunderstorms and has a 50% chance of developing in the next five days.