The National Hurricane Center has now upgraded the chance for development to HIGH for a system in the Gulf of Mexico. A depression could from as early as this evening. That system is expected to move through the eastern Gulf and toward the northern Gulf Coast by Sunday. If you have travel plans to that region you should stay aware of this forecast. I’ve included the latest map from the National Hurricane Center at the bottom of this post.
At this time, the Gulf system is expected to remain below hurricane strength, but that will be monitored closely. Normally, we would see rain from such a system, but a front we have moving through this weekend may keep that system pushed to our south. I’ll keep an eye on that.
We also have Tropical Storms Paulette and Rene out in the Atlantic. Both are expected to move out to sea and away from the US, though Paulette will likely bring some rough weather to Bermuda.
It is looking more and more likely that we will have four named storms at once in the Atlantic/Gulf by the time the weekend is over. That has only occurred six other times, since records began.
It is not out of the question that we could end up with five named storms at once, especially if the orange-shaded region over near Africa suddenly develops. That would break the all-time record for most named storms at one time in the Atlantic/Gulf basins.
Also, keep in mind that we only have four names left before we resort to the Greek alphabet, and we’re only halfway through the season! This season is setting up to be the most active on record.
I’ll keep you posted on the latest!
Pictured below is the current outlook. I’ve never seen such an active map!
