Watching 3 Waves in the Tropics

Nearly stationary Tropical Depression 13 continues to spin in the Gulf. A better model consensus leads us to believe that this depression will likely strengthen to a tropical storm later today but not strengthen beyond that intensity. As of now, the storm is forecast to slowly move toward the northeast and make landfall along the Louisiana coastline early Monday morning. The storm will continue slowly northeast, producing 10-15" of rainfall in southern LA, MS, and AL. We in SW FL will not be directly impacted by this storm but can expect increased cloud cover and scattered storms through the beginning of next week.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Katia is moving toward the WNW at 15 mph in the Atlantic. The storm maintains winds of 70 mph, just 4 mph shy of Category 1 hurricane strength. The storm is not forecast to strengthen in the next 24-36 hours; beyond that the storm will likely re-strengthen into a hurricane and possibly even a major hurricane. Through the next 5 days, Katia will not be a threat to land.

A third tropical wave south of Nova Scotia, moving northeast in the North Atlantic, has the potential to develop into a tropical depression in the next 48 hours but regardless of development, this wave of energy will not threaten land in its lifetime.

-KW