ATLANTIC OCEAN - The Atlantic hurricane season is just warming up post-Irma, Harvey, and Jose. Hurricane Maria is next up to bat, figuratively speaking. Having strengthened to a Category 4 storm on Monday afternoon, Maria has been steadily moving towards Puerto Rico ever since, according to CNN.

"The eye and the intense inner core is expected to pass near Dominica during the next few hours," said the National Hurricane Center (NHC) as of 5 PM EST. "Maria is likely to affect Puerto Rico as an extremely dangerous major hurricane, and a hurricane warning has been issued for that island.”

With sustained winds of 130 mph and "large and destructive waves," the NHC has so far predicted Maria will make landfall in the Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico, warning of mudslides caused by heavy rains and life-threatening flash floods. Rain totals are projected to reach up to 12 inches in most areas, and even up to 20 inches in some areas.

"The next few hours should be placed on cleaning up around the house and on your properties rather than stockpiling weeks of foods and other supplies,” Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said in a televised speech, according to CNN. "This is not a system that will linger very long. Therefore, the goal must not be on stockpiling supplies but on mitigating damage caused by flying objects.”

Maria is on the move at the same time as another hurricane, the aforementioned Jose, is traveling through the Atlantic. While forecasters don't anticipate Jose making landfall in the U.S., the storm has stirred up several tropical storm warnings for part of the East Coast. NHC’s forecasters expect the storm to cause "dangerous surf and rip currents" along the East Coast in the next few days.

As of 5 PM EST Monday, Hurricane Jose was about 250 miles east-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and was moving north at 10 mph, and tropical storm warnings are in effect for parts of southern New England, from Watch Hill, Rhode Island, to Hull, Massachusetts.

"Jose is expected to produce total rain accumulations of 3 to 5 inches over eastern Long Island, southeast Connecticut, southern Rhode Island, and southeast Massachusetts, including Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, through Wednesday,” NHC reports. "Minor to moderate coastal flooding is possible from Delaware to southern New England. Swells generated by Jose are affecting Bermuda, the Bahamas, and much of the US east coast.”

AndNowUKnow will be tracking both storms in the coming days as we see what, if any, effects will reach produce growing regions—so stay tuned.