Tropical storm Jeanne and Hurricane Karl could possibly interact, forecasters at the US National Hurricane Centre predicted yesterday.

However, that did not mean they would form one storm and double in size, nor were they ? or newly-formed tropical depression 13 ? predicted to have any effect on Bermuda, local weather forecaster Lou McNally said.

In an advisory issued at 6 p.m. Bermuda time, NHC forecasts showed Jeanne slowly progressing north from the Bahamas making a slight turn towards the northeast ? and Bermuda ? by Friday. The forecast also predicted Jeanne could intensify to a hurricane within one or two days, possibly interacting into Hurricane Karl, the fourth category-four hurricane of the season. As of last night, the centre of Hurricane Karl was located near

latitude 17.0 north, longitude 44.0 west, or about 1155 miles east of the Lesser Antilles.

Karl was moving toward the west-northwest near ten mph and was expected to continue on that track for the next 24 hours.

Karl is packing maximum sustained winds near 135 mph, with higher gusts. Some additional strengthening was forecast during the next 24 hours.

Dr. McNally explained, that 'interaction' merely meant the two systems could possibly "bounce off each other", and did not mean they would be getting together to form a superstorm. Any interaction would also take place well out in the Atlantic, nowhere near Bermuda, he added.

The NHC advisory predicted Jeanne ? moving at eight mph ? will move very slowly in a general northeasterly direction.

"She's doing a loop in the Atlantic," Dr. McNally said ? a phenomenon which occurs once every few years.

"It's going pretty much nowhere."

The 6 p.m. advisory also showed the development of tropical depression 13 between Hurricane Karl and the Cape Verde Islands.

Tropical Depression 13, which was not well-represented on computer models, was expected to move west-northwest with a gradual turn to the northwest. "It should stay well out in the Atlantic," Dr. McNally said.

"But there's still plenty of thunderstorms over Africa," he added. "We're not done yet."