Scattered Thursday storms, a slight drop in high temperatures

High temperatures will only reach the upper 80s and lower 90s under mostly cloudy skies. Dew points in the upper 70s will make our temperatures feel five to 10 degrees warmer during peak heating.

Boaters can expect great water conditions if they can dodge Thursday’s storms. One- to 2-foot Gulf wave heights and a light chop are forecast within our bays.

The strength and coverage of these storms will start to decrease into the evening. Once the sun sets, these should begin to weaken substantially. Severe weather is not likely but still possible. Isolated flooding, damaging wind, and cloud-to-ground lightning are possible within our strongest thunderstorms.

 

The Weather Authority is monitoring two named storms and two disturbances within the Atlantic. Invest 95L has a high (70%) chance of becoming a named storm within the next five days. Regardless of formation, this system will drift into the Mid-Atlantic and pose no threat to the U.S. A tropical wave emerging from Africa has a low (30%) chance of forming west of Cape Verde by Tuesday. It is too early to speculate on its potential path as the cyclone is still over 4,000 miles away from Southwest Florida. There are no additional active disturbances in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.

 

Danielle has now weakened into a post-tropical low and is continuing to move into a region of cooler sea surface temperatures. Its remnants could eventually bring gusty winds and rain to portions of Portugal and Spain.

Hurricane Earl is rapidly strengthening in the Mid-Atlantic, with a closed eye roughly 50 miles wide. It is expected to become a major (Category 3) hurricane by the weekend, eventually reaching sustained winds of 130 miles per hour. Earl will bring no impact to the U.S. Hurricane watches are currently in effect for Bermuda.