Tropical disturbance that could trek near Florida now has 60% chance for development: NHC
ORLANDO, Fla. - The National Hurricane Center continues to monitor a tropical disturbance in the Atlantic that now has a 60% chance of development.
The tropical wave is located several hundred miles east of the Leeward Islands and is currently mired in Saharan dust, which would slow any potential development.
"Environmental conditions are forecast to become more conducive for development over the warmer waters of the southwestern Atlantic Ocean during the next day or two, and a tropical depression could form late this week while the system is in the vicinity of the Greater Antilles or the Bahamas," the NHC said in an update early Tuesday morning.
Several global computer models think the system will form into at least a tropical depression, if not a tropical storm, according to FOX 35 Storm Team Meteorologist Brooks Garner.
Should it develop into a tropical storm, it would be named Debby.
Will the tropical disturbance impact Florida?
As of Tuesday morning, Garner said no models show it impacting the Central Florida region as a hurricane. Therefore, it is most likely to be rain if we experience any direct impacts this weekend.
"The general thinking is that if it arrives in the Bahamas as a strong system, it'll be pulled northward on the Atlantic side of Florida, leaving us on the "clean side" with just some rain and rip currents," Garner said.
"If it arrives in a weaker form, it could be dragged into the Gulf, ushering in heavier rain for Florida on the "dirty side", he added.
We'll have a better bead on this system on Wednesday and Thursday, making for a pretty short-fuse forecast from inception to potentia landfall impacts.
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