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As South Carolina’s rivers continue to flush out the torrential rainfall accompanying Tropical Storm Debby, forecasters are closing tracking the next system to threaten the continental United States.
The bad news? The tropical wave we reported on last week is on the cusp of becoming a depression – meaning it’s only a matter of time before it becomes the fifth named storm of the 2024 hurricane season (likely Ernesto).
“Showers and thunderstorms continue to show some signs of organization in association with a broad area of low pressure located a little less than 1000 miles east of the Lesser Antilles,” the latest update from the National Hurricane Center (NHC) noted. “Environmental conditions appear conducive for gradual development of this system, and a tropical depression is likely to form within the next day or two while the system approaches and then moves near or over the Leeward Islands.”
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Forecasters are giving the system an 80 percent chance of developing into a tropical depression over the next 48 hours and a 90 percent chance of doing so over the coming week.
As for its projected path, “the system could approach portions of the Greater Antilles by the middle of the week,” according to the NHC – referring to the larger islands of the Caribbean including Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico and Jamaica.
The good news?
Current projections from the Global Forecast System (GFS) and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) – a.k.a. the EURO model – both show the storm making a hard right turn prior to approaching the United States.
Take a look at the models courtesy of Florida-based weather expert Mike Boylan…
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Assuming that track holds, South Carolina – and the entire eastern seaboard – would likely avoid any significant impact from the storm.
As we’ve previously reported, forecasters have projected an extremely busy year in the Atlantic basin, calling for a “blockbuster” and “super-charged” 2024 hurricane season complete with anywhere between 17 and 24 named storms – including anywhere from eight to thirteen hurricanes and four to seven major hurricanes. Most seasons have fourteen named storms, seven hurricanes and three major hurricanes.
The “blockbuster” forecast was reaffirmed just last week, with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) releasing its “mid-season hurricane outlook update” on Thursday (August 8, 2024).
Count on this media outlet to keep our audience up to speed on the latest important developments in the tropics – especially as we approach the peak of the 2024 season.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina and before that he was a bass guitarist and dive bar bouncer. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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5 comments
Maybe if Diaper Don gets elected he will have a chance to try his stable genius idea of nuking a hurricane.
Nah, Walz’s combat service hot air can just blow them all away….
Walz is the Master Sergeant that walks in the room and you notice an E-3 has more ribbons than him.
Waltz spent 24 years in the National Guard. He has never hidden his record. Even those he served with say he was a dedicated member of the Guard who did everything he was asked. He decided to retire long before he knew his unit was being deployed. You can respect guard service or not, which if you are a Trump supporter no one will be surprised that you don’t. Trump thinks all people who serve in the military are losers and suckers, and anyone who supports him is pissing on the graves of our war dead. As for Shady Vance, he spent his time in Afghanistan in an air-conditioned office writing press releases.
And no member of Captain Bone Spur’s family has ever spent one day in the armed services of this nation. Never once. The Trumps do not believe in military service, they never have. His grandfather came to this country fleeing military service in his native country.
Now now, he was a 4-star general in his own personal Vietnam.