Tropical Storm Bertha has begun to strengthen, but has also begun to high-tail it off toward the north east, away from Bermuda and straight toward oblivion as a tropical system.

So forecasters have turned their attention to several other regions that have been boiling up in recent days. One is an area of low pressure off the Georgia coast that could become a tropical depression in the next day or two. It began earlier this week as an area of showers and storms in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. It has since crossed the Florida peninsula and is reorganizing in the Atlantic.

Forecaster says it's producing thundershowers and gusty winds offshore, but barometric pressures are falling in the area and conditions are getting more favorable for development.

That said, there doesn't seem to be much concern that it will affect us this far north, but forecasters at Sterling say "it still bears watching." The storm is expected to drift to the north or northeast. We'll see. It could become a factor for cruise passengers headed from Baltimore to Bermuda this weekend.

Hurricane forecasters are also watching a low pressure system in the Caribbean north of the Dutch islands of Aruba and Curacao. Heavy rains and gusty winds are possible there as the storm strengthens. Reconnaissance aircraft will fly through the region today. But a tropical storm could form there by the weekend. If so, it will be the third named storm of the season - Cristobal.

Finally, there is another storm system over the western Caribbean, Honduras and Nicaragua. Forecasters don't expect it to become a tropical storm, but heavy rains and strong, gusty winds could cause life-threatening flash floods and landslides in the region.