Now that we've more than a few cool mornings across the Gulf South I have to admit my concerns over tropical activity have certainly lessened. Granted, the official Hurricane Season as defined by the National Hurricane Center runs from the first of June through the end of November. It's very seldom that we see a lot of tropical activity in the final 30 days of the season but that doesn't mean Mother Nature can't throw us a curveball or two.

The Hurricane Center is now offering advisories on the newly formed Tropical Storm Wanda. The storm system up until it was given a name by the Hurricane Center was being tracked as a nor'easter off the coast of New England in the United States. That was last week. Over the weekend the system moved out into the open waters of the North Atlantic and developed enough to earn tropical storm status.

Track guidance for Tropical Storm Wanda keeps the system in the open water. That's a very good thing. Also, the tropical models that forecast intensity are also suggesting that the storm system will not grow stronger than tropical storm strength, at least over the next five days.

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Still, the system could hang around for the balance of the week but should only be a concern to shipping interest across the North Atlantic shipping lanes. Oh, and one other tidbit for you, Wanda was the last name on this year's tropical storm name list. So, if we get another storm, we will have to revert to the beginning of the list. Let's hope that won't happen but I guess it could.

Meanwhile, much further to the south, another area of disturbed weather is being monitored for development. This system was several hundred miles southwest of the Cabo Verde Islands. In other words, it's a lot closer to Africa than it is to America. Forecasters are only giving this system a 20% probability to grow stronger over the next five days.

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As for our weather this week, most of south Louisiana will remain sunny and pleasant through Wednesday. By Wednesday night there will be a threat of showers creeping into the area. Thursday will bring a significant rain threat followed by some of the coolest weather we've experienced so far this season for next weekend.

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