Tropical wave may bring wet weather Saturday; Four other tropical systems to watch

On Thursday, The Weather Authority is keeping an eye on six tropical systems: two tropical storms and four tropical waves.

There are two tropical waves closer to Florida — one in the Gulf of Mexico, the other near the Bahamas.

The tropical wave near the Bahamas will move over Florida on late Friday into Saturday, which could bring us a relatively wet start to the weekend! With ample tropical moisture in place and a little added “lift” thanks to this passing wave, we’ll have to look out for some heavier downpours developing Saturday afternoon, particularly for our areas closer the coast.

With soils already quite saturated from the heavy rain many have already seen this week, localized flooding will be a concern. In fact Flood Watches have already been posted for western Charlotte and western Lee counties, which will go into effect on Saturday morning.

This same tropical wave will have a 50% chance of tropical development after it moves over us and into the Gulf of Mexico late Saturday into Sunday. The tropical wave that is currently over Gulf has only a 20% chance of tropical development.

Over the Atlantic (and very far away from Florida), we have Tropical Storm Paulette, Tropical Storm Rene, and a tropical wave that is just west of the African coast.

Tropical Storm Rene will be curving northward as we head into Friday and the start of the weekend, where it will remain out at sea. Some strengthening is possible over the next few days, but it is no longer forecast to become a hurricane. Rene will have no impact on the United States.

Tropical Storm Paulette has strengthened as of the 11pm Thursday. This strengthening trend is expected to continue into the weekend, where it is now forecast to become a Category 2 hurricane by Monday.

The forecast track currently takes Paulette over Bermuda (as a Category 2 hurricane), but it will make a turn to the northeast far before it reaches the United States coast. The East Coast will likely see some fringe impacts including heightened rip current danger and larger ocean swells early next week.

Last, but not least, the tropical wave that emerged off the coast of Africa early Thursday has a 90% chance of becoming a tropical storm or tropical depression over the next five days as it moves over the Atlantic. While this system is still over 3,000 miles away from Florida, this is a system we will need to keep a close eye on over the next couple of weeks.

The next name on the list is Sally. Stay tuned!