The tropics are buzzing this morning with three tropical storms churning in the Atlantic.Tropical Storm Gert is likely to fizzle out by days end....with Emily is expected to stay out to sea.
It's Franklin that stands a better chance at causing some trouble. Hispaniola, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico are bracing for heavy downpours and some possible flooding.
Maximum sustained winds are near 50 mph (85 km/h) with higher gusts.
Some strengthening is forecast before Franklin reaches Hispaniola.
Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 60 miles (95 km) from the center.
The National Hurricance Center in Miami says there's a disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico that could become a tropical cyclone, depression or storm as it approaches the western Gulf by tomorrow or Wednesday.
At this point, neither Franklin, Emilly nor Gert pose an iimmediate threat to mainland U.S., but it's too soon to say on the Gulf area of disturbance.
The peak of the Atlantic hurricance season is September 10th with storm activity anticipated to pick up within the next few weeks into mid to late October/November.