ORLANDO, Fla. – After a relatively quiet start in the tropics, for the first time this season, there are now two areas being monitored, including one that will play a decent role in Florida’s weather heading into the weekend.
Area No. 2: Area Near Florida
Much of the tropical attention is focused on the northeastern Gulf, where an area of low pressure is expected to develop sometime this weekend. Gradual organization is possible as the system drifts northeast across the Gulf and near the southeastern U.S. coastline early next week.
The National Hurricane Center currently gives this system a 20% chance of development over the next seven days.
While confidence remains low regarding whether this system ever becomes more tropically organized, Central Florida does not need a named storm to feel impacts. The developing low is expected to pull deeper tropical moisture into the state, leading to a return of a wetter and stormier pattern beginning this weekend and continuing into next week. Click here for more on the weekend impacts.
The good news is that current forecast trends do not suggest a significant wind event or a classic tropical storm impact for Central Florida. Instead, this looks more like a moisture-rich summer pattern enhanced by a nearby area of low pressure.
Area No. 2: Area in the Far Eastern Atlantic
The second area is located in the eastern tropical Atlantic, southeast of the Cabo Verde Islands. Showers and thunderstorms remain disorganized around a tropical wave moving west-northwest at around 10 mph. While some slow development is possible over the next day or two, environmental conditions are expected to become less favorable this weekend, limiting its chances of strengthening. The National Hurricane Center currently gives this system only a 10% chance of development over the next seven days.
Stay tuned to News 6 as we continue to monitor the tropics into the weekend.