New tropical wave in the western Atlantic; Paulette and Rene maintain strength

Published: Updated:

As of Wednesday night, The Weather Authority is keeping an eye on five tropical systems: two tropical storms and three tropical waves.

As of 11 p.m. Wednesday, Tropical Storm Paulette has not strengthened at all over the past 24 hours due to some vertical wind it continues to battle. The storm maintains maximum sustained winds of 60 mph.

Strong wing shear will continue to impact this system over the next 2-3 days, where it is forecast to continue to weaken. Some restrengthening will be possible Sunday into Monday of next week, where the National Hurricane Center is now forecasting it to become a Category 1 hurricane by Monday evening.

It is looking less likely that it will pose any threat to the eastern United States, but this storm needs to be watched closely. Regardless, Paulette will have no impact on Southwest Florida.

Rene restrengthened into a tropical storm late Wednesday morning with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph. As of the 11 p.m. update, Rene remains with sustained winds of 40 mph.

Rene could undergo more additional strengthening over the next few days. It’s still forecast to briefly become a weak Category 1 hurricane by early Saturday, but then weakening thereafter.

The storm is moving toward the west-northwest now and should make a turn to the northwest Friday into early Saturday. This motion will keep it out at sea, where it will pose no threat to the United States.

Otherwise, we have three additional areas of interest. Two are currently in the western Atlantic and the other is currently over Africa, but expected to move into the Atlantic by Thursday.

The newest tropical wave is one we’re monitoring a couple hundred miles north of the central Bahamas. This wave currently has only a 20% chance of tropical development.

This tropical wave will actually be moving over Florida on Saturday. Don’t worry though! The only thing it will bring us is a little extra tropical moisture to help additional rainy-season storms fire up during the day Saturday. From there, it will move westward into the Gulf and away from us, during which time it will have an opportunity for tropical development.

The tropical wave to the north of that over the western Atlantic also has only a 20% chance of tropical development. This one will be moving towards the Carolinas and eventually move inland Thursday afternoon… which means the time for it to become a tropical depression is running out.

Lastly, the wave over the coast of Africa has an 90% chance of development due to very favorable conditions. This means it is likely to form into our next tropical depression when it emerges into the open ocean later this week.

Regardless of development, we have plenty of time to watch this tropical wave! The next storm name on the list is Sally, followed by Teddy.

We only have four names left until the Greek alphabet! The only time that ever happened was the historic 2005 Atlantic Hurricane Season.

The historic peak of hurricane season is 1 day away, so it’s no surprise how active we are. You can trust our team to keep you updated all season long!

 

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