FEELING NICE TODAY WITH SLIGHTLY COOLER TEMPS; WATCHING TROPICS… Slightly cooler and drier air has moved into many areas this morning after the passage of an unusually strong summer cold front moved by our region. If you step outside, especially in the northern part of our area near Thomasville, Greenville, and Beatrice, you’ll notice the air feeling quite nice and much less humid. This same cold front will be partially responsible IF formal tropical development happens in the northern Gulf of Mexico later this week. The National Hurricane Center continues to indicate there is a 20% chance that a tropical storm will develop as we go into the upcoming weekend. Let’s look at details…
TROPICAL DEVELOPMENT POSSIBLE IN NORTHERN GULF LATER THIS WEEK… The National Hurricane Center has introduced a low-end chance of tropical storm formation for the northern Gulf of Mexico valid for later this week. We note this is a totally separate, distinct chance of tropical development that is NOT associated with the former Tropical Depression 3 east of Georgia and the Carolinas. From NHC: “A non-tropical low pressure area could form over the northern Gulf of Mexico by late Wednesday or Thursday. Thereafter, conditions could become marginally conducive for some subtropical or tropical development as it moves slowly northeastward through the end of the week.”
TOO EARLY TO KNOW POTENTIAL IMPACTS… It’s far too early in this process to be able to give any specifics about what our area may (or may not) experience due to this potential tropical development. If formal development happens (and that’s a BIG “if” at this point!), we will probably need to adjust rain chances higher for the weekend, but even that will largely depend on the future track of the system.
TROPICAL DEPRESSION 3 IS OFF THE BOARD… NHC issued the final advisory on Tropical Depression #3 yesterday. The system remains weak and will be absorbed by a frontal boundary near the Carolina coast later today or tonight. This will be the last mention of this consistently weak, dissipating system.
NOT NEARLY AS MANY STORMS AROUND TODAY… Other than a passing shower or storm near the immediate coastal areas of the northwest Florida beaches, vast majority of us will be dry on this Wednesday. High temperatures will peak in the mid-80s in most spots as our brief respite from the extreme heat of midsummer continues.
NICER CONDITIONS CONTINUE INTO THURSDAY… Rain chances will remain deflated for Thursday as high pressure remains in control of our weather pattern. The unsettled weather will remain to the south of the cold front that pushed across our region. There will be plenty of showers and storms across the northern Gulf (well to the south of our coastal areas) in the next day or so. High temperatures on Thursday will be in the mid- to upper-80s with overnight lows in the mid-60s on both Thursday and Friday morning.
SHOWERS AND STORMS RETURN THIS WEEKEND… Rain chances will rise as we go into the weekend regardless of if formal development of a tropical storm happens in the northern Gulf. The stalled frontal boundary will lift to the north, bringing our area back into the warm, unsettled sector. Showers and storms may be numerous on Saturday.
APP ALERTS… redzoneweather.com/app is the link for the free download. Once you have the RZW app downloaded to your iOS or Android device, be sure to visit the Alerts tab (lower right corner) and turn ON the alerts you would like to receive straight from me.
See all the details in your Wednesday #rzw forecast video… Enjoy your day!
