Several Areas of Atlantic Tropical Development in Days Ahead

While it was an uncharacteristically calm Labor Day weekend in the tropics, experts are warning that activity is going to pick up in the coming days. Here is a look at what is raising concern in the Atlantic basin as the historical peak of the season inches closer.

What Forecasters Are Watching This Weekend in the Tropics

It has been atypically quiet in the Atlantic since Ernesto roamed the basin in the middle of August. However, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) is now monitoring several tropical threats churning in the Atlantic. At least one of these features could impact the U.S. while another one will take a run at Atlantic Canada.

This is in addition to a slow-moving tropical rainstorm that has been moving across the Gulf Coast in recent days. This system is currently dumping heavy rain to a large area of the Interstate 10 corridor, creating flash flooding concerns from the central coast of Texas and farther inland. The weather maker will linger across the upper Gulf Coast through Friday before moving into southern Georgia and possibly into the Carolinas.

While it is not likely that this system will evolve into a named storm before pushing offshore, it will still produce heavy bands of rain. The wind shear spinning above the system will also work to mitigate its strength. Coastal flooding is most likely in a zone from coastal Texas and across to northern Florida and up into southern Georgia. This will not be the best time to visit the beach in this part of the country.

This particular system has now split into two sections. The first area will move off of the southern Atlantic coast while the other will continue to spin over the western half of the Gulf of Mexico.

The part of the storm located in the Gulf will see an infusion of energy and moisture from a tropical wave moving in from the Caribbean and into Central America and southern Mexico next week. This infusion could give the feature the ingredients it needs to develop into a tropical storm. More details about the predicted track of this system will be available throughout the weekend.