Tropical Wave Likely To Bring Heavy Rain To Florida

ORLANDO, Fla. -- A tropical wave located near the Bahamas is expected to bring heavy rain to Florida this week and possibly strengthen over the next several days, according to Local 6 meteorologist Michel Cimino.

The wave is expected to continue to move west Monday toward Florida, Cimino said.

There are two computer models showing different movements for the system.

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"One of the models has the wave pushing west and not having a lot of time for development but bringing in a whole lot of rain for us," Cimino said. "The other model stalls it out. It lets it develop a bit and still brings in a lot of rain for us. No matter how you cut it, we are at least going to get a lot of rain out of this."

The potential for development will also be possible Monday and Tuesday.

"There is a little circulation tonight but it is still a open wave and we have not seen a lot of organization," Cimino said.

T.S. Otis Weakens

Hurricane Otis weakened to a tropical storm and headed north toward an unpopulated stretch of the Baja California Peninsula early Monday, while another tropical storm crossed the Yucatan peninsula, apparently heading for open Gulf waters.

No immediate reports of damages or injuries were received in connection with either Otis or Tropical Storm Stan, officials in the states of Baja California Sur and Quintana Roo said.

Otis, once a Category One hurricane, had wind speeds of about 45 mph by Sunday and was expected to weaken and fall below tropical storm strength, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.

The storm was swirling about about 125 miles south of Cabo San Lazaro, near the tip of the Baja California peninsula, and could cross over a relatively unpopulated stretch of coast about 300 miles north of the resort of Cabo San Lucas on Monday.

Two Americans had to be helped into port at San Carlos by a local tuna-boat captain after their sailboat was damaged first by Tropical Storm Norma last week, and Tropical Storm Stan this week. Over the weekend, more than 1,000 people evacuated as rains from the storm's outer bands sparked flooding in the poor outskirts of Cabo San Lucas. The resort's hotels escaped major flooding, but some evacuations were carried out further north on the islands of Magdalena and Margarita.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Stan formed before dawn Sunday and then plowed into a marshy stretch of land about 40 miles southwest of the resort Tulum. The storm could re-emerge into the Gulf of Mexico Monday, where it was projected to gather strength again.

Stan was moving inland across the Yucatan peninsula at about 12 mph with winds of about 40 mph, and was about 50 miles southeast of the Yucatan state port of Progreso.

The storm was expected to dump up to 15 inches of rain in some areas of the Yucatan peninsula and Belize.

Watch Larry Mowry and Tom Sorrells for more on this story.