Eyes On The Tropics – Forecasters Say New Depression Possible

The weather has certainly felt tropical over the past few days. Acadiana has experience high heat and humidity and the ever present threat of an afternoon or early evening shower or thunderstorm. Now, there is something else for forecasters to be concerned with. It's a lingering low pressure system that has pushed off the east coast of South Carolina and is now spinning right over the deep warm waters of the Gulf Stream.

As of 4am this morning forecasters with the National Hurricane Center were giving this low pressure system a 60% probability of strengthening into a tropical cyclone. Most likely that system would be a tropical depression. In fact the probabilty of strengthening over the next five days 80% according to the Hurricane Center.

The tropical models that predict the intensity and path of these kinds of storms don't give the system much of a chance to strengthen beyond a tropical depression or minimal tropical storm. The projected path of the system  is forecast to hug the eastern seaboard of the United States and then turn out to sea.