MOSTLY DRY & HOT TODAY THROUGH FRIDAY; TRACKING NANA & OMAR… Hot temperatures with passing cumulus clouds are likely across the region on this Wednesday. Rain chances will be much lower today compared to the last few days. High temperatures will be in the 93-96° range, but heat index values will likely be in the 102-105° range by 2PM. I cannot completely rule out a few showers and thunderstorms this afternoon into this evening, but I expect vast majority of us to remain dry and hot throughout the day. Two new tropical storms developed yesterday, Nana in the Caribbean and Omar in the western Atlantic. We’re also tracking a tropical wave emerging from Africa today that has a growing (50-60%) chance of becoming the next tropical storm in the far eastern Atlantic Ocean. Let’s look at all of your forecast details.
TROPICAL STORM NANA IN WESTERN CARIBBEAN SEA… Tropical Storm Nana is located northeast of the Honduras coastline in the western Caribbean Sea. Nana is moving west at 16-18 mph, meaning landfall is likely either in western Honduras or more likely in Belize some time on Thursday. A Hurricane Watch and Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for the entire coastline of Belize. A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for the Caribbean coastline of Honduras. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) forecast calls for Nana to briefly become a hurricane before its landfall in Belize. This system will be a serious threat for parts of Central America due to heavy rain, flash flooding, and mudslides. Direct impacts in the United States from Nana are not expected, however. The circulation of Nana will quickly fade over the high terrain of southern Mexico later this week.
TROPICAL STORM OMAR IN NORTHERN ATLANTIC… Tropical Storm Omar is a weak, disorganized storm located in the open waters of the northern Atlantic Ocean well east of the North Carolina coast. Omar will remain well away from land areas over the next few days. Increasing shear will likely cause the system to dissipate in a few days. No direct U.S. impacts are expected because of Omar.
50-60% CHANCE TROPICAL WAVE DEVELOPS IN EAST ATLANTIC… Our next tropical storm in the Atlantic Basin may form closer to Africa over the next few days. From NHC: “A tropical wave is expected to emerge off the coast of Africa today and merge with a disturbance centered a couple of hundred miles southeast of the Cabo Verde Islands in the next day or so. Gradual development of this system is then possible, and this system could become a tropical depression by this weekend while it moves slowly westward over the eastern tropical Atlantic Ocean.”
SHOWERS & STORMS RETURN THIS WEEKEND… Scattered showers and thunderstorms will increase in coverage across our area on Saturday into Sunday and next week. These storms will mainly happen in the afternoon and evening hours. The good news is I am not seeing any signals of any severe weather events locally. Instead, the storms that fire up this weekend into early next week will be the classic, summer, “pop-up variety” of storms.
FIRST TASTE OF FALL IN ABOUT A WEEK… While model signals continue to indicate the possibility of cooler temperatures arriving about one week from now, it looks like our “real world” effects of this first cooler shot of air of the season won’t be too pronounced. We’ll call for overnight lows in the low-60s by Wednesday morning of next week (one week from today). High temperatures will likely be in the mid- to upper-80s by this time next week. It won’t be ‘cool’ or ‘cold,’ but it certainly is a welcome sign of fall coming for a lot of folks!
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See all the details in your Wednesday #rzw forecast video. Have a nice day!