Friday brings scattered storms; Tropical Storm Fiona to become hurricane

High temperatures will only reach the upper 80s during peak heating on Friday. Mostly cloudy conditions will stick with us all day. Boaters will have excellent conditions on the water. However, rain and storms chances may impact your boating experience after lunchtime. One- to 2-foot Gulf wave heights and a light chop are expected within our bays.

Scattered storms return to the forecast. A few isolated showers and storms will be possible along our coastline Friday morning. These will spread inland and bring rain chances to all of Southwest Florida after lunchtime. Their strength and coverage will be maximized in the later afternoon and evening. After sundown, storms should weaken significantly before fizzling out entirely. Scattered storms will return on Saturday and Sunday.

The Weather Authority is currently tracking a named storm and two disturbances in the Atlantic Basin. The easternmost disturbance we are watching will likely remain at sea even if it becomes a named storm. It currently has a low (20%) chance of formation within the next five days. An additional disturbance also has a low (10%) chance of formation and is expected to track eastward, away from the United States.

Tropical Storm Fiona is now forecast to strengthen into a Category 1 hurricane by the middle of next week. The current forecast cone still has the storm taking a northward turn near Hispaniola next week.

 

Tropical Storm warnings are now in effect for many of the Leeward Islands, the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. This means Tropical Storm conditions are expected in the next 36 hours in these areas. There are many factors that could significantly impact Fiona’s track, so it is too early to rule out potential impacts on Florida and the Contiguous United States.