The National Hurricane Center continues to watch an unorganized area of showers and thunderstorms in the southwest Gulf. This area has become a much more serious threat over the past couple of days. Here’s the latest on Invest 92L…
- 80% chance of becoming a tropical depression within the next few days.
- Right now it still has a disorganized circulation with showers and thunderstorms rather than a clearly defined center.
- It’s expected to move east-northeastward across the southern gulf, then turn northward later in the week.
Could it become the next tropical storm?
I think there’s a legitimate chance here. The immediate step is getting a closed, organized circulation and becoming a tropical depression. If Invest 92L can consolidate while over the warm Gulf waters, it could then reach the 39 mph wind criteria to become the next named tropical storm. But we need an organized center first and we don’t have that yet. The interesting part is that wind shear remains a concern, which could keep it from strengthening. At the same time though the Gulf remains very warm and there’s plenty of tropical moisture to work with. So we have both negative and positive factors in regards to strengthening.
Forecast Track
Forecast Wind Speeds
