After a fairly quiet August, activity in the tropical Atlantic is waking up as we head into September and the climatological peak of the Atlantic hurricane season, September 10th.
We're currently tracking two tropical waves, one emerging off the coast of Africa, and the other over the Leeward Islands.
As for the wave coming off of Africa, the National Hurricane Center gives this area a high chance of development (90%) in the next 2 days with a named storm looking likely in the far east Atlantic by this weekend. At this point, this area does not look to threaten the U.S. The next name on the list is Florence.
The tropical wave near the Leeward Islands could bring wet weather to the Florida peninsula Labor Day but is not forecast to develop into an organized system before doing so. At this point, enhanced rain chances are expected Monday and Tuesday as the wave pushes across south Florida into the Gulf of Mexico. Once over the Gulf, development into a tropical system is possible, but the National Hurricane Center is only giving development a low 10% chance.
We're watching this area closely and will keep you updated as models start to work out the details heading into the weekend. For now, plan on rain chances around 60-70% and mainly in the afternoon and evening heading into the start of next week.
FOX 4 METEOROLOGIST DANI BECKSTROM
