Tropical Storm Beta forms in the Gulf of Mexico

Published: Updated:

It’s time to get the Greek alphabet out! We’ve now gone through all of the names for the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season and are now onto “Beta” in the Greek alphabet.

Tropical Storm Beta formed Friday afternoon in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico. As of 11 p.m. Friday evening, maximum sustained winds are near 60 mph as of the latest advisory, but more strengthening is expected. The system may become a hurricane late Sunday.

The tropical storm is moving north-northeast now and this general motion is expected through early tomorrow. After that, a slow westward movement is expected to continue into early next week. Interests along the northwestern Gulf of Mexico coast should monitor the progress of the this system like Texas and Louisiana.

There is still plenty of uncertainty regarding the track, but for now, it does not appear to be a threat to Southwest Florida.

Other than Beta, we also have Tropical Storm Wilfred and Hurricane Teddy. Neither storm will be a threat to Southwest Florida.

Wilfred is expected to be short-lived and should begin weakening late in the day Saturday. From there, it will continue to weaken and is forecast to eventually dissipate over the central Atlantic after Monday evening.

Teddy is still a very strong hurricane, at Category 4 strength with 130 mph winds. It is currently moving to the northwest at 13 mph.

Teddy is expected to stay out in the Atlantic, but could bring some impacts to Bermuda beginning late Sunday into Monday.

While Teddy won’t have any direct impacts on Southwest Florida, it may have some beneficial indirect impacts! With Teddy moving northward and a cold front trying slowly moving through northern Florida, Teddy could eventually give the needed “push” for the cold front to push completely through Florida by late Monday on the backside of it’s circulation.

This would result in a less humid day Tuesday with lower than average dewpoints in the 60s… just in time for the Autumnal Equinox! In the meantime, we’ll keep our fingers crossed that this forecast verifies.

 

 

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