Kate pops up in the Atlantic, No. 11 in ’21

Meteorologists were warily monitoring another storm Monday as Ida continued to wreak havoc along the Gulf Coast.

A newly formed tropical depression strengthened into Tropical Storm Kate, the 11th named storm of the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season, as it moved over the open ocean.

As of 11 a.m. on Monday, Kate was around 770 miles east-northeast of the Leeward Islands with sustained winds near 45 mph, according to a National Hurricane Center advisory. The storm was moving north at 8 mph and was expected to turn northwest Tuesday night or Wednesday, the agency said.

No coastal watches or warnings were issued as Kate is likely to stay in the ocean. The National Hurricane Center’s latest forecast shows Bermuda, the closest possible target for the storm, doesn’t appear to be a target.

If Kate survives the “hostile shear conditions” of the central Atlantic Ocean, it may intensify later this week, though “significant strengthening” remains unlikely, according to the agency.

Kate’s upgrade to a tropical storm comes a day after Julian, the 10th named storm of the season, was briefly considered a tropical storm. The system transitioned into a posttropical cyclone Monday morning, the National Hurricane Center said.

Ida also weakened Monday, becoming a tropical storm after its sustained winds dropped to about 60 mph. When it made landfall in Louisiana on Sunday, Ida was a powerful hurricane packing winds of about 150 mph. The deadly storm caused widespread devastation throughout the state as well as parts of Mississippi, flooding numerous roads, ripping roofs off buildings and knocking out electricity to more than a million homes.