With only a few weeks left in the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, tropical activity is heating up once again. Hurricane Rafael continues to intensify as it heads north through the Caribbean Sea and eventually enters the Gulf of Mexico.To the east of Rafael, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) is monitoring another area for possible development in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean as the countdown to the end of hurricane season begins.HOW PAST HURRICANES HAVE AFFECTED ELECTIONS IN THE U.S.”An elongated trough of low pressure is producing disorganized showers and thunderstorms several hundred miles east-northeast of the Leeward Islands,” the NHC said in its latest outlook. “A portion of this system is forecast to begin moving westward by early Wednesday, and an area of low pressure could form near the northern Leeward Islands by Wednesday night. Afterward, some slow development of this system is possible during the latter part of the week while it moves generally westward, passing near or north of the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico on Thursday, and approaching the Southeast Bahamas by Friday.This disturbance currently has a low chance of development over the next seven days.The Atlantic hurricane season ends Nov. 30.