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As the unprecedented damage from Hurricane Helene continues to wreak havoc on the United States – particularly in flood-ravaged western North Carolina – a new tropical system is on the verge of forming in the Gulf of Mexico.
According to forecasters with the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami Florida, they are tracking “a trough of low pressure over the western Gulf of Mexico” – a system “producing widespread shower and thunderstorm activity.”
“A broad area of low pressure is expected to develop from this system over the southwestern or south-central Gulf of Mexico during the next day or two, and additional subsequent development is possible while the low moves slowly eastward or northeastward,” forecasters warned. “A tropical or subtropical depression or storm could form during the early to middle part of next week if the low remains separate from a frontal boundary that is forecast to extend across the Gulf of Mexico next week.”
Will the system become a tropical storm? Whether it does or doesn’t, portions of the Sunshine State could be in for a significant dousing either way…
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“Regardless of tropical or subtropical development, locally heavy rains could occur over portions of Mexico during the next few days and over portions of the Florida Peninsula late this weekend into next week,” the advisory added.
As of this writing, the system is projected to impact Florida sometime next week – with early models keeping it well south of the still-unfolding ‘Appalachian Apocalypse.’
“Indications point toward a tropical feature that will organize and strike the Florida Peninsula next week with torrential rain and the likelihood of flooding,” AccuWeather forecasters noted.
After a period of record inactivity, the tropics have gone absolutely bonkers over the last few weeks, with Hurricane Francine hitting Louisiana on September 11, 2024 and then Helene slamming into Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee last week.
Our media outlet covered each of those storms, from their inception to the devastation they wrought.
We will keep our audience apprised of any significant new developments related to this system, which NHC forecasters have given a 50 percent chance to develop into a tropical system over the next seven days.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Will Folks is the owner and founding editor of FITSNews. Prior to founding his own news outlet, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina, bass guitarist in an alternative rock band and bouncer at a Columbia, S.C. dive bar. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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