HOT WEEKEND; SCATTERED P.M. STORMS; HENRI TO MOVE NEAR NEW ENGLAND… High temperatures will be in the mid-90s this weekend with heat index values in the 105-110° range at times. Scattered thunderstorms will be possible at times today, tomorrow, and on Sunday. These thunderstorms will be well under severe limits in most cases, but these “splash and dash” storms will produce loud thunder, heavy rain, and quite a bit of cloud-to-ground lightning at times. We continue to track Grace in the southern Gulf of Mexico and Henri in the Atlantic Ocean this morning. All of your Friday morning forecast details are below.
GRACE IN THE SOUTHERN GULF OF MEXICO… Grace continues to move west as a tropical storm this morning. The storm made landfall as a hurricane in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico before emerging into the Bay of Campeche portion of the Gulf of Mexico yesterday. Grace is forecast to make landfall along the mainland coast of Mexico as a hurricane late this evening or early tomorrow morning. A Hurricane Warning is in effect for the coast of mainland Mexico from Puerto Veracruz to Cabo Rojo. We note Grace remains far south of the southern part of Texas. Other than rip currents and high waves, it appears the impacts of Grace will be confined to Mexico over the next few days before dissipation happens Sunday.
HENRI IN THE ATLANTIC; TO APPROACH THE NORTHEAST… Henri remains in the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean, well southwest of Bermuda yet also well northeast of Florida this morning. The National Hurricane Center currently is forecasting Henri to be a hurricane as the system approaches the northeastern U.S. on Sunday. Impacts from Henri will be possible in parts of Long Island, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, southern New Hampshire, and Maine this weekend into early next week. If you have interests in New England this weekend or early next week, please be aware of the potential for tropical storm or even hurricane impacts, especially near the Atlantic coast.
REMAINDER OF TROPICAL ATLANTIC QUIET, FOR NOW… Other than Grace and Henri, the remainder of the Atlantic Basin is quiet with no new tropical storms expected to develop this weekend or early next week. A large dome of high pressure in combination with high concentrations of African dust from the Sahara Desert, continue to suppress tropical formation in the Atlantic Ocean. Good news!
APP… If you haven’t already, be sure to download the free RedZone Weather app to keep up with all the latest information on the world of weather in south Alabama and northwest Florida. redzoneweather.com/app is the link for the free download. Once you have the app downloaded to your iOS or Android device, be sure to visit the Alerts tab (lower right corner) and tap the large, yellow Alert Settings button to customize the alerts you would like to receive straight from me.
See all the details in your Friday morning #rzw forecast video. Have a great weekend!