MORE P.M. STORMS THIS WEEKEND; TROPICS HEATING UP… Heat, humidity, and afternoon/evening scattered thunderstorms will continue to be the headlines of our local weather pattern. Climatology suggests the peak of hurricane season typically happens from August to October, with a maximum generally in September. Right on target, the Atlantic basin is coming alive with the potential for a tropical storm forming east of the Lesser Antilles in the Atlantic Ocean over the next few days. Let’s talk details…
INCREASING AMOUNT OF P.M. STORMS OVER NEXT FEW DAYS… Most spots across the local area have been dry this week. The good news is showers and thunderstorms will become more numerous as we go into the latter half of the week and into this weekend. Parts of Covington, Coffee, Geneva, and Walton counties are included in the “severe drought” category, per the latest U.S. Drought Monitor report. Our area needs a good, soaking rain. Pop-up storms will help in this process. Most of the storms today and over the next few days will happen in the afternoon and evening hours.
CONSISTENT SUMMER TEMPERATURES… High temperatures will consistently be in the mid-90s with morning lows in the low-70s over the next few days. Some spots may hit the upper-90s on Thursday into Friday. It’s typical in midsummer that we don’t have much change in the temperature department around here, and that certainly will be true over the next 7-10 days.
INVEST 95L BASICALLY OFF THE BOARD… The tropical wave (branded as INVEST 95L) currently producing heavy rain across parts of Haiti and the Dominican Republic remains weak and unorganized. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) says the system has only a 10% chance of developing into a tropical storm over the next few days as it moves toward The Bahamas. No issues are expected in our local area because of this system.
TROPICAL WAVE EAST OF LESSER ANTILLES… There is an increasing chance (30-40%) that a tropical wave currently situated hundreds of miles east of the Lesser Antilles in the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean will develop into a tropical storm in 3-5 days as it continues moving west. It is impossible to know where the system will end up at this point, but we note the ECMWF/Euro model brings the system northward near Puerto Rico and Hispaniola in about a week as a moderate tropical storm. This is a system to monitor carefully, but certainly no cause for concern or worry for the Gulf Coast as of now. I’ll keep you posted with the latest information.
NO ACTION IN THE GULF, FOR NOW… No tropical issues are expected in the Gulf of Mexico today or in the next 5 days. We will continue to monitor the tropical wave in the Atlantic. We note that water temperatures in the Gulf are in the mid- to upper-80s. That’s pretty normal for this time of year. Storms that do develop or enter the Gulf of Mexico will have plenty of “high octane fuel” to work with.
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See all the details in your Wednesday #rzw forecast video… Enjoy your day!