Tropical Storm Marco moving towards the Yucatan; Tropical Storm Laura near Puerto Rico, SWFL out of cone

Tropical Storm Marco formed as of the 11 p.m. advisory last night. As of 5 a.m. this morning, it has maximum sustained wind of 45 mph and is moving at 12 mph in a north-northwest direction.

Tropical Storm Laura formed Friday morning. With the 5 a.m. update, Southwest Florida is still out of the cone and the max sustained wind has decreased. Laura has maximum sustained wind of 40 mph and is moving west at 21 mph.

The current forecast cone still shows a tropical storm moving near or over Puerto Rico today, then moving near or over Hispaniola tonight into Sunday.

Eventually, the cone takes Laura near or over Cuba by Monday morning, then into the southeastern Gulf of Mexico by Monday night, well southwest of the WINK viewing area. .

While forecast intensity and track can change with this system (and we likely will see changes over the weekend), for now, Southwest Florida is in good shape! If this forecast holds, we’re looking at minimal impacts Monday into early Tuesday. Expect wind gusts between 25 – 35 mph and rainfall totals between 1.0″ – 2.0″.

Still, this is something we will need to monitor over the weekend. For now, stay calm, stay weather aware, and you can trust WINK News to keep you updated!

Otherwise, we’re watching Tropical Storm Marco, which recently strengthened into a tropical storm last night. Marco is expected to remain a tropical storm as it moves towards the Yucatan Peninsula today and then re-emerge over the Gulf of Mexico as a tropical storm Sunday. It is expected to maintain tropical storm strength before making landfall somewhere along the Texas or western Louisiana coast late Tuesday, as per the NHC forecast.

The last tropical wave located just off the African coast is producing a disorganized area of showers and storms. This system is expected to slowly move westward the next few days and conditions will be marginally conducive for development. A tropical depression is possible by early next week.

The National Hurricane Center currently gives it a 20% chance of development over the next 5 days.