Advertisement

Tropical disturbance to bring soaking rain to Florida

By Eric DuVall
This satellite image shows a poorly formed tropical disturbance about 200 miles southeast of Miami in the Caribbean. Forecasters said it could bring locally heavy rain and thunderstorms to south Florida by Sunday. Photo courtesy NOAA
This satellite image shows a poorly formed tropical disturbance about 200 miles southeast of Miami in the Caribbean. Forecasters said it could bring locally heavy rain and thunderstorms to south Florida by Sunday. Photo courtesy NOAA

MIAMI, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- A tropical disturbance will bring soaking rain to south Florida, the Bahamas and Cuba this weekend and could form into a tropical depression in the Gulf of Mexico by midweek, forecasters said.

As of midday Saturday, the storm was about 210 miles southeast of Miami. The storm system is moving slowly over Cuba and the southern Bahamas Saturday and should reach Florida sometime Sunday. The storm is producing locally heavy downpours and thunderstorms with potentially damaging winds, Accuweather.com reported.

Advertisement

A high pressure system sitting over the Appalachians and mid-Atlantic region could push the weather system west into the Gulf of Mexico by Monday, where Weather.com said it is possible for low wind shear to allow tropical rotation to enable the storm system to intensify into a tropical depression or a tropical storm.

The National Hurricane Center said there is a moderate chance a tropical depression or greater could form in the Gulf of Mexico next week.

If the storm enters the Gulf of Mexico as some forecast models indicate, it could make landfall in areas that have been soaked with rain in August, including portions of central Louisiana where record flooding devastated areas around Baton Rouge over the last two weeks.

Advertisement

Latest Headlines